Broken Mirror
by Moofy-Fan
Summary: When Selim Bradley is killed by his father, he strikes a deal with Truth. Now stuck in another demention, inside a Selim that is not himself, he's on the run in a world far more dangerious than he's ever had to deal with before. Anime/Manga crossover.
1. Prologue

Hello one and all. I should be focusing on my other fan fictions but I just saw episode 61 of FMA brotherhood and brought volume 21, so I am currently on a Pride/Selim rampage. That evil devil child dose not get enough love. I'm also writing this to ease the pain of waiting for the last episodes of Brotherhood/able to buy more mangas. I swear if I hear anymore about chapter 108 I'm going to crawl into a hole so that I wont be tempted to spoil myself.

Well, enough of my rant, here's the first chapter of Broken Mirror.

Disclaimer: Don't own Full metal alchemist, brotherhood, or any other amazing series with the initials FMA.

Prologue

Selim Bradley couldn't sleep. He had been asleep about ten minutes ago, but because of that terrible dream, he had woken up, and now he was unable to return. He considered going to his mother, but didn't want to seem childish. He was eight years old now, and the president's son! He didn't need to be crawling to mommy every time he had a bad dream.

Selim shuddered under the covers again, and started to reconsider eight really being _that_ old. Pulling the blankets closer, he tried to tell himself it was only a dream, just like every other time. He figured he should be used to the shadowy tentacles and nightmarish eyes and teeth that invaded his sleep more and more, but every time it was always the same. He'd have the dream, go running to his mother, and then everything would be okay. Not tonight though, tonight he was going to rough it out alone, and be brave for once.

Glancing towards his window the young boy saw that the sun was already beginning to rise, and let out a sigh of relief. The dream always became just that, a dream, once the sun rose and light filled his home once again. He knew that he would be able to spend the night without running to his mother, and suddenly became much more confident in himself. First he would overcome this childish fear, then he would be able to tell himself that he could overcome any other obstacle that came his way.

Pushing the covers off himself and trying to make the least amount of sound possible, young Selim made his way over to his bookcase. Just barely able to pick out the titles in the darkness, he grabbed one entitled Basics to Alchemy. It was his goal to study alchemy and become a state alchemist, in order to help his father.

Lighting a candle Selim sat by his window, trying to get as much light as possible. He wasn't tired anymore, now hyped on energy only a determined child could posses. Rereading parts he already had the eight year old tried to understand the complex terms and theories of alchemy. People had always said he was a bright boy, and he wanted to prove them right, and not just get the complements because his father was the president.

Several hours later Selim woke up, his head in the book and not able to remember when he had fallen asleep in the first place. The sun was fully up now, and Selim blew out what remained of the candle, not hardly anything more then a stub of wick in a puddle of wax.

Walking downstairs he saw his mother was already awake, she usually was. Smiling brightly, Selim ran up to her.

"Hello mother! Is father working today?" He asked, hoping the answer would be in the negative.

"Good morning Selim. I'm afraid he is, but don't worry, he promised to come home early for your special day," Mrs. Bradley said, giving her son a reassuring smile. Selim blinked a few times, not understanding what his mother had meant at first, but his smile came back full force once it sunk in.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten! It was June 9th! His birthday, and better yet, mother had said that father was going to come home early just for him! The now nine year old could barely contain his excitement as his mother ushered him towards his breakfast.

He babbled endlessly during the whole meal. When would father be home? Did she know what he'd gotten him? Could he visit father beforehand? Would there be cake? His mother simply laughed at his borage of questions, but he didn't really mind. He would find out soon enough anyway.

After breakfast Selim headed back to his room to get changed. Glancing at his bed, the black haired boy noticed his alchemy book still lying in his sheets, open. Picking it up, he placed it back onto his book shelf. He would finish reading that later. Today was his birthday, he had way too many things to do besides study.

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There you have it. The beginning of Broken Mirror. Please tell me what you think so far, this is the first new FMA fanfic I've done in about two years, so I hope I've gotten better and not rusty. Well please review.


	2. Chapter 1

Hello there. I had to rewatch episode 50 of the first FMA anime in order to remember what that Selim actually acted like, so if he was a little out of character in the last chapter, sorry. I was just going by how Pride-Selim acts. Well, enough of boring old me, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer- Don't own FMA.

Chapter 1

Selim was nearly bouncing with excitement. His father would be home any minute. Taking a deep breath the little boy tried to calm down. He should be calm and collected when talking to his father, he was the ruler of the entire country after all, he didn't have time for his silly behavior.

The door creaking open brought the nine year old out of his thoughts. Standing up quickly he kept his head bowed, until he felt a large hand on top of it that caused him to look up. His father was smiling at him. It was a strange smile to the young boy, happy, but almost like he was sharing a secret with just him.

"Now, now, Selim. No need for that. You are my son, and," his eyes twinkled as he began to bring forth the hand that Selim hadn't noticed was behind his back until just then, "it is your birthday, after all." The boy smiled brightly as he took the large, colorfully wrapped box out of his father's hands. He stood for a moment, not sure what to do and trying not to drop whatever was inside. "Well, are you going to open it?" King Bradley prompted, and Selim nodded excitedly before tearing into the paper wrapping.

"Oh! Thank you, father!" Selim said as he began to open the box of his new train set. It was so big, and complicated. He could hear his mother giggling as he tried to pry it out of the fully packed box. He stopped suddenly, and began to look around the room. "Where should I set it up?" He didn't want to build it in a place where it would be in the way, or where people would knock into it and break it. He looked at his father, who gave him another one of those knowing smiles.

"Why don't you set up in my office, after dinner?" Selim stared at his father, having not expected that suggestion, before nodding.

"Sure," He said, not sounding too certain. He loved his father, but he never got to spend much time with him. Maybe this was his father trying to change that?

"Well, speaking of dinner, it should be done right about now. Who's hungry?" His mother asked. Selim nodded, and the three made their way to the dinning room.

After dinner Selim made his way to his father's office. He knew he was already in there and wanted to ask if he could set up the train set now. He hoped he wasn't being too much of a bother, especially since, despite what his father said, he wasn't truly his son. He was adopted, but no one seemed to care about that. Selim was glad about that, because he did care about his father and mother very much, and would be devastated if they didn't feel the same way, all because he was adopted.

Peaking in as to not disturb his father if he was busy, Selim saw something he wasn't expecting. The bookcase that was usually agents the back wall was moved, with his father standing in front. He could just see his father place something into a safe on another bookcase behind the one that was usually there. The bookcase then began to move back in place, and Selim hurried away before his father could turn away and see him.

Oh, now he felt guilty. He knew something he shouldn't, and his father would probably be mad once he found out. He didn't know if he wanted to set up the train set in that office anymore. What if his father found out he knew about his secret treasure.

Seeing his mother come down the hallway he tried to act cheerful, not wanting to tell her about the treasure before he talked to father about it.

"Hello dear, did you ask your father about setting up your train set if his office yet?" the older woman asked happily. Selim shook his head.

"Not yet, I was going to, but he looked busy," He told her. Smiling, it was her turn to shake her head.

"I'm sure he's not too busy to not talk to you, go ask him," His mother insisted. Nodding, Selim tried his best to smile. Maybe it would be better to just get this over with, his father always said it's best to tackle a problem head on.

"Okay, I'll go ask him," He said happily, and turned to walk down the hall he just came from. Once at his door, he peaked in again, making sure that everything was back to normal. It was, so he went fully inside. Clearing his throat, he tried to catch his father's attention. "Excuse me, Father?" He asked timidly.

"Oh, Selim, I didn't see you. Here to set up your little train?" King Bradley asked, in his happy, rough voice. Selim always thought he sounded like an enthused teddy bear.

"Yes, you don't mind, do you?" He asked. His father shook his head.

"Of course not, if I minded, would I suggest you put it in here?" He asked playfully. Selim smiled and shook his head.

"I guess not," He said, before looking around the room, his eyes lingering just slightly on the bookcase. "I'll go get the train set now," He said, trying to sound more excited then worried. His father simply nodded and began writing on some papers in front of him.

Walking though the halls fast (Mother said never run in the house) he grabbed the large box and made his way back to the office. Soon he was sitting on the office floor, trying to piece the train track together. It wasn't that hard, and he had it done in half an hour. Pushing the train along the track, his mind began to wonder to the treasure safe behind the bookcase. He didn't like keeping secrets from his parents, and he wasn't very good at it either. He kept glancing over to his father, and looking away quickly whenever he looked back. It was only a matter of time before he asked what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Bradley asked. Selim knew it, he was terrible at hiding things. "Don't worry, believe it or not, I'm actually very good at keeping secrets, I won't tell anyone, not even mother if you don't want me to," He continued, and Selim decided to just tell him, he'd find out anyway.

"I saw your secret treasure. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," He said, not looking his father in the eyes. Bradley sat up from his desk and walked over to the bookshelf. Selim stood up quickly and fallowed him, getting the feeling that he should. His father pushed the first bookcase out of the way, revealing the second case and the safe.

"Well, I wasn't planning to tell you until you were older," He said, and handed a key to the young boy.

"You mean your not mad?" Selim asked, gripping the key tightly. His father gave his that smile again, and Selim knew that this time he really was sharing a secret with him.

"I could never be mad at my son," Bradley said, and relief instantly filled Selim's small body. "But," he went on, "you know that by giving you this key, I'm trusting you with my life, keep it safe." Selim smiled brightly and gave his father a salute.

"Yes Sir!" He said happily, ecstatic that his father trusted him so much. Bradley let out a small chuckle and patted his head.

"Well, why don't you go put that key someplace safe then, and then you can come back here and play with your train some more," Bradley suggested, pushing the bookcase back in place. Selim nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright Father, I will," He said, and sped from that room to his own.

Once in his room he tried to find a place good enough to hide the key. He couldn't have anyone find it, father's life depended on it, apparently. Looking for a place he was still giddy from excitement. He'd somehow earned his father's pride. Despite being a timid little boy who didn't show much promise in military life, although he wanted to, he was just too kind, the military didn't need kindness. Somehow, though, he earned it, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Looking at his bookcase, he figured out where to hide the key. Grabbing an old book, one he hadn't read it a good year, he opened to the middle. Placing the key inside, he pushed it back into the bookcase and tried to imprint the book in his mind so he would know which one the key was in, if he ever needed to get it in a hurry.

Smiling to himself, he left the room. He was sure it was a good hiding place. That was where father hid his treasure, after all. Back in his father's office, he continued playing with his train. This was defiantly his best birthday to date. Even though he'd had his nightmare last night, and he was scared when he found out his father's secret, those only made the good things seem even better.

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Well, there you have it. Stuffs about to go down next chapter, but you could probably tell if you recognized one of the scenes in this. Oh, and who else thinks Selim is the cutest kid ever? So sweet and timid, I want a son like that when I grow up. Well, Please review, and thanks to everyone who has so far, it makes me very happy.


	3. Chapter 2

Hello one and all. Just watched episode 62 of the brotherhood series, so I am seriously hyped. Only two more episodes and I'll be finished with the series that I've fallowed for the better part of five years.

Well, you don't care about me, just about this story, so here it goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.

Chapter 2

It was starting to get late, around eight thirty. Selim Bradley was sitting in his living room with his parents. He was still feeling a bit prideful about his father trusting him, but he couldn't talk about it in front of mother, so he just tried to act normal. The family was interrupted by a knock at the door. His father went to go answer it, so Selim fallowed, and because Selim fallowed, his mother fallowed.

"Yes?" King Bradley asked, looking at the slightly shaken looking guard.

"There's a strange women here, she requests to speak to you immediately," He said. Selim felt his mother's arm wrap around him protectively. He had already learned by now that trying to shrug her off did nothing but make her pull him in tighter, so he didn't try to anymore.

"Well, bring her here," Bradley said, and the guard went to do just that.

"Dear," His mother started, but Bradley cut her off.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Although his mother still seemed skeptical, Selim believed him. What could one woman do to his father, anyway?

When they brought the women in Selim began to lose focus. Her name was Riza Hawkeye or something, but Selim wasn't sure why she was there. He kept looking at the door to their basemen, he was sure he had heard something, but no one else seemed to notice, until a rather loud bang.

The guards began to move, but his father waved them away. "I'll handle it," He said, and the guards began to object immediately, but he continued. "It's probably just a rat. Take my family, if something were to happen." The guards nodded and began leading them to a car, along with Ms. Hawkeye.

There was a tense silence in the car. That Hawkeye lady really seemed to be on edge. Selim just hoped he could get back soon, he didn't have a chance to get father's treasure! He had the feeling they wouldn't be going back home anytime soon, and he wanted to take it to keep it safe. He'd only caught bits and pieces of information, but he was able to put them together. The country wasn't fairing well, their was wars springing up everywhere, as well as plots to take over his father's position.

His head shot forward when the car began to swerve. He didn't even have enough time to scream before the other car hit them head on. Looking first at his mother to make sure she was okay, he tried to look out the front window, to see what they'd hit. It was another car, and a strange man was coming out.

He was half robot! It actually scared Selim quite a bit. He was bleeding all over the place, and he was yelling at their guard about something, although he couldn't hear what. When he started shooting at them is when he noticed his door was now open. Taking one last glance at his mother, he snuck out and began running back towards his house.

Reaching the front gate he ran along the wall to a place that was covered with bushes. Pushing them away he crawled though the large hole. His mother always did wonder how he was able to sneak past the guards. Running up to his room, he grabbed the key and began to head to his father's office, but stopped. Walking back to his bookcase he grabbed the alchemy book he had been struggling to read just that morning, and placed it into his carrying case.

Opening the safe behind the bookcase Selim took the large bundle that was inside out and placed it into the case next to the book. He wasn't sure what was inside, but he didn't have any time to look at it. He had to go make sure his father was alright then get out and go back to his mother. She was sure to be worried.

Walking though the hallways was actually a little scary. Several places looked scorched and others had sword marks on them. Up ahead he saw a doorway with light coming out, it looked like there was a fire burning in there.

"What's going on?" Selim called out, now standing in the doorway. What he saw defiantly shocked him quite a bit. The room was a wreck, Selim couldn't even tell what it was used for anymore, and fire was everywhere. Probably the most disturbing thing to the young boy was seeing his father, stabbing a man into the wall through his shoulder. The fear dissolved, though, when his father gave him that strange smile and said.

"Look son, I caught the rat." Bradley let go of his sword and began walking towards Selim, the man still pinned to the wall. Selim recognized him. His name was Roy Mustang, and he was pretty sure he was a cornel. Selim had actually heard rumors of Mr. Mustang wanting to overthrow his father, so the situation made sense to him now. Mr. Mustang must have been trying to kill his father, that's why he was pinned now.

"I'm sorry I disobeyed you father, but I just had to come back. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and I forgot something," Selim apologized. His father kept walking towards him, and put his large hands on his shoulders. Selim could hear Mr. Mustang grunting, trying to get the sword out of his shoulder.

"If humans are so inferior, how do you explain loving him?" That certainly confused him. What did Mr. Mustang mean? Humans being inferior, and loving who? Was he talking about him? The young boy didn't have much time to think about it, though, his father's grip tightening, to the point where it almost hurt.

"You fool, what have you done?" Now Selim was worried and confused. His father looked hurt and angry, did he do something wrong?

"I just got your treasure," Selim reached down and pulled the wrapped bundle out of his bag, "see? I didn't want it to get hurt in the fire, because you said your life depended on it," Selim was starting to get more and more worried. The hands on his shoulders were getting even tighter, and were starting to hurt bad, but his father looked even worse. "Father, what's wrong? You look hurt!"

Bradley didn't answer him. He took his hands off his shoulders, which Selim was grateful for, it was really getting painful, but before he could even move his father wrapped those same hands around his neck.

Selim's eyes grew wide as he struggled for air. What was going on? His father would never try to hurt him, would he? "F-fa-ther!" He attempted to get out. He somehow managed to keep his grip on the treasure, his father's life depended on it. Everything was starting to get fuzzy, he guessed that was because of the lack of oxygen getting to his brain. He kept trying to breath, but nothing worked. Suddenly, Selim heard a loud, snapping sound, and then everything went completely black.

When he opened his eyes, everything around him was a pale yellow. He couldn't remember closing his eyes, or how he had gotten to this place at all. Looking behind him, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Turning back around, he fell on the ground from the shock.

A huge door had suddenly just, appeared! Right when his back was turned. Standing back up, he walked over towards it. It was defiantly creepy. A huge eye was sculpted onto the actual door, and the two pillars on either side were made up of sculptures of people. They all seemed to be trying to go up, even climbing on one another to get there.

Standing right up next to it, Selim did the only thing he could think of to do. He knocked. It was a door, wasn't it?

Slowly, the two huge doors began to pry apart, revealing the inside to just be pitch black. Hesitantly, he took a tiny step forward. "H-hello?" He called, actually hoping that no one would answer him. "Ahh!" He had fallen down again, the hundreds of eyes opening at the same time in the blackness terrifying him.

Black, stringy arms began to reach for him. It was just like his dream. Well, maybe not just like it but pretty darn close. Trying desperately to run away he ended up falling down the door's steps. The arms circled around him, and pulled him into the blackness.

Opening his eyes again, there was no more yellow. Just white. Turning around, there was another giant door. It was a lot like the other one, but different. No stone pillars, no eye carved on the front. No, something that looked more like a tree. And no steps, either, it actually seemed to be levitating.

Feeling eyes on the back of his head, Selim turned around as fast as he could, careful not to fall down for the third time in a row.

Selim was tired of being scared, but he couldn't help it. Things just kept getting scarier and scarier. Now he was starting at a completely white figure with absolutely no distinguishing figures but a mouth that was in a very creepy smile.

"W-who are you?" Selim asked. Maybe this… thing could give him some answers. He had no idea what was going on and he just wanted to go home and go to sleep. The creepy white figure smile brighten, and Selim took a step back.

"I'm the truth," Selim blinked. What was that supposed to mean? Before he had a chance to ask, the white figure continued. "You're Selim Bradley, correct? I have a deal for you," the faceless figure offered. Selim frowned.

"A… deal? What do you mean?" The young boy asked. Selim wasn't sure the creepy figure's creepy smile could get any bigger.

"I can let you live," He said. Selim stared at the truth, his frown deepening.

"Live? What do you mean, live? I'm not…" Selim gasped, the memory suddenly surging back at him. His father. The snapping sound. "I'm… dead," it was almost a whisper, but Selim knew the other… thing had heard him.

"Yes, but I can let you live," The Truth said again. Selim nodded. He didn't want to die, he was only nine years old. If this truth thing said it could make him live, then he would do whatever it said.

"What do I have to do?" Selim asked. The figure seemed to laugh.

"Oh, you'll see," Selim didn't like that at all, but he wasn't just going to lay down and die, literally. "As of right now, though, all you have to do is walk through that gate," Turning around, he saw the doorway behind him open. This one wasn't full of eyes like that last one, but the hands were the same. He didn't try to run away this time, though. Apparently, this would bring him back to life, so he wasn't going to fight it, no way.

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Oh, this chapter was rather difficult to get out. I kept getting stuck. Well. Hopefully it didn't suck that bad. I'm thinking of changing the summary of this. Do you think I should. I feel like it doesn't really explain much about it, at all. Tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 3

Hello one and all. I feel like exploding. I just saw episode 63 of FMA brotherhood, and have to wait a week or so for the last episode. Not gonna spoil anything for anyone, so don't worry. I'm a little late in updating this chapter, so sorry. Also the updates might be coming just a smidge farther apart because my older sister is going to Tennessee for the summer, so I'm gonna have to be doing most of the housework, cook dinner by myself, and a bunch load of other things that cut into my fan fiction writing time. But anyway, on with the chapter.

Hope the beginning of this doesn't confuse anyone, we're finally in the manga/brotherhood now.

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA.

Chapter 3

Selim Bradley sat in his classroom, bored. Although being a 300 year old super villain learning fourth grade math will do that to you. You see, his real name was Pride, but he had to put up this stupid act in order to fulfill his father's grand plan. He began doodling on the side of his paper, already done with the work. It was absolutely no problem, as he'd already gone through the fourth grade several times in his long lifetime. Something that didn't usually happen began to though, he got a head ache, a big one.

"Urg," The pretend boy grumbled, getting his tutor's attention. Selim put his head in his hands, it felt like someone was prying his head open. What was going on, homunculus don't get headaches!

"Master Selim, is something the matter?" His tutor asked. He could just barely nod. It was actually starting to scare him, he didn't feel pain often.

"M-my head…hurts…" Pride managed to get out, trying desperately to both speak, and keep up his act. It was starting to feel like someone was pushing his consciousness out of his head, and it was getting harder and harder to focus.

"I'll go get the doctor," The tutor said, and rushed from the room. She seemed worried, Pride figured he probably looked as bad as he felt. He could barely focus as he tried to keep from passing out, and briefly acknowledged some figures coming to the room, probably the doctor and his tutor, and he finally lost the internal struggle, and feel to the ground from his chair.

Selim tried to open his eyes, but he was too tired to, so he continued to lay on whatever he was laying on, and tried to remember what had gotten him here in the first place. Let's see, where was he last. That doorway! The mysterious figure! He had gone through the doorway so he wouldn't die. It seemed like it worked, he didn't feel dead at least, just tired.

Selim heard the door open, and some people walk in. He knew he should probably let them know he was awake, and he would, just not yet. He had always liked pretending to be asleep with others in the room, they would talk like you weren't even there. It was how he had learned a lot of the things he knew about the state of the military and other classified things. His parents wouldn't tell him, at least, not intentionally.

"How is he?" Selim tried not to shoot up, and keep up the act. It was his father. His father had… He'd tried to… It was taking everything he had not to burst from the room. What if his father lost it again? Selim still had no idea what he had done so wrong the first time, and was now officially terrified.

"He collapsed in the middle of his lesson. I couldn't find anything wrong with him, though, it's like he simply fainted, although the teacher said he had complained of a headache beforehand," Selim didn't recognize that voice, but he assumed it was a doctor. He hadn't collapsed during class though, he'd been strangled to death by his father in a burning house!

"Alright, you may leave. I'll call you when he wakes up," Bradley said. Selim's breath hitched just slightly. He did not want to be alone with his father! What if he tried to do something? What if he made him mad again? He couldn't do anything though as the doctor did as he was told, and he was left with only his father, standing somewhere to the left of his bed.

"Get up, boy," Bradley commanded, and Selim sprung up faster then he thought possible. It made his head spin. He sounded angry, and Selim was already near tears. "What happened?" He asked, and Selim shook his head, staring down as to avert his gaze.

"I-I don't k-know…" Selim stuttered. He was so scared. How had his father convinced the doctor that he'd just collapsed during class? He didn't even have class today! And now his father sounded angry and his father was almost never angry with him except for right before he tried to kill him and what if he was mad because he hadn't been able to and he had come back to life and he tried to kill him again and he was so scared that was going to happen. Selim's thoughts were going a mile a minute and he was beginning to shake, a few tears escaping from his eyes.

King Bradley, or Wrath, was completely dumbfounded. W-was Pride…crying? He did know no one else was in the room, right? "Err, Pride? You can cut out the act now and tell me seriously why you fainted," Wrath said, hoping Pride would stop. He was never good with tears, even the fake kind. His 'son' just looked up at him, though, a look of confusion on his face.

"W-what act, f-father? And I d-don't even r-remember fainting. I'm s-sorry!" Selim tried to speak through his tears. He wished his mother was here. He mainly just wished his father would stay away until he was sure that he wouldn't kill him.

"Pride, stop that this instant, it isn't funny," Bradley growled, beginning to feel the anger he was named for. It only seemed to increase the boy's tears, though.

"W-why are y-you calling m-me P-pride?" Selim choked out, scared to talk, but too confused not to. That was the second time his father had called him that, and it made no sense to him. Bradley's frown deepened, and he grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"I said stop it," He demanded again, taking a step toward. Selim lost it.

"Don't kill me!" He yelled, pushing himself as far back from his father as he could, his back against the wall. Bradley stopped in his tracks, and just stared at him, a look of pure confusion on his face. Selim pulled his knees to his chest and set his head down, bawling his eyes out. He wanted his father to go away. He was saying confusing things and Selim was already scared and he was making it worse.

"Your not… acting?" Bradley asked, but got no response, Selim just kept crying. Alright, he had officially no idea what to do. He wasn't good with _real_ crying children, let alone his _fake_ crying child who was actually more like a brother and almost three hundred years older then him and was suddenly absolutely terrified of him for some strange reason. He figured he should take him to father, but had a feeling that doing that would only make things worse. So he decided to turn to the next person he went to when he was at a lose for what to do.

"Want me to get your mother?" Bradley asked, and Selim nodded his head feebly. Nodding, he turned and went to find his wife.

It wasn't hard to find her. She was pacing in the room at the end of the hallway, looking like a concerned mama bear. King Bradley was actually a bit worried about telling her that her 'son' was bawling his eyes out in the other room and thought his father was going to kill him. Normally he wouldn't be scared of any human what so ever, but today was turning out to be a very strange day.

"Um, dear?" Bradley started, getting her attention immediately.

"Yes, how is he? Is he awake? The doctor came in and said he was fine. Did he wake up? Well?" His wife bombarded him with questions. Bradley put him hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down.

"Now Larissa, relax. He woke up," Bradley said hesitantly, and she relaxed instantly, but it didn't quite stop her questions.

"Well, how is he? Does he feel sick?" Larissa asked, and Bradley decided it was now or never.

"I, well, he… you see, he started to cry, and I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I came to get you and, well, I see your already on your way," Bradley mumbled the last part, as his wife had turned away from him and was rushing down the hall to console her crying son.

Selim hadn't moved from his spot when his father left. He said he was going to get his mother, and he really hoped that was true. He didn't want to talk to his father anymore. He wondered what that figure at the door had done though, to make him alive again? Did he just come back? But then why would people be saying he had collapsed during class? And he really had no idea what his father had meant by calling him pride, or saying he was acting.

Something else bothered him, though. He felt, well, stronger. It was weird. Now that he was awake, he wasn't tired in the least, and he felt this pulsing of energy where his heart was. It was all so strange and he just wanted his mom.

"Oh dear! What's the matter?" His mother asked, rushing to him and sitting down next to him on the bed. Selim jumped into her lap without saying anything and began crying into her shirt. He wanted to ask her what was going on, but couldn't stop crying long enough to actually do so. She patted him on the back. "There there, sweetie, it's okay, it's okay," She comforted.

Selim kept on crying. He said he wasn't tired, but that was quickly changing. He was struggling to stay awake as the tears began to stop flowing so that he could ask his mother what was going on, but it was getting harder and harder. Soon, he had lost the battle and was fast asleep in his mother's arms as she hummed softly to him.

Bradley stood in the doorway, trying to be completely silent as this all went on. Once his 'son' had fallen asleep, his wife met his eyes, giving him a look to show she was confused as well. He knew she was no where near as confused as he was, though, there wasn't any way she could be.

What in the _world_ had gotten into Pride. He was acting like a normal pathetic human child! There was no way on earth he would do that if it wasn't needed, and this certainly wasn't needed. At first he thought this was some kind of joke, but he knew he wouldn't take a joke this far, not even Envy would of. Giving his wife a small shrug, King Bradley left the room. Pride _would_ come to his senses and explain what the hell was going on, and he would do it soon, or else Bradley would take him to father and get whatever was wrong with him fixed.

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Well, tadaa! Chapter three. Sorry if it's a little short, but I felt this was a good spot to stop. What happened to Selim? Hopefully you could all figure it out, or else I am really bad at hinting at things. Well, please review and tell me what you think, and thank you to everyone who has so far. It really brighten ups my day when I see one of my stories has gotten a review, even if it's something small or constructive criticism, which I actually like. Not flames though… flames would probably throw me into a pit of despair, well, enough of my ramblings, good night…or morning…or afternoon….


	5. Chapter 4

Hello one and all. I'm glad people are enjoying this story so far, and now we're finally getting into the plot. Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so I wont try to and waste your's and my time, so on with the story.

Disclaimer: Fma does not belong to me.

Chapter 4

When Selim awoke, he was in his room, on his oversized bed. He would of liked to say all that had been a dream, but something felt… wrong, not to mention the strange energy he could still feel pulsing in his body.

Getting down off his bed he began looking around his room. It was almost exactly how he left it, but not quite. There were a few things he had never seen before. Books he'd never read on the shelf, toys he couldn't remember getting. Remembering something, Selim ran back over to his bookshelf. His alchemy book wasn't there. Maybe it was still in his bag.

The young boy sat back down on his bed, still a bit scared and now even more confused. What had that white figure done? Had it set back time, erasing everything that led up to his death? No, that wouldn't explain the new things in his room, or the energy he felt. It must have been something else, but he didn't know what. Maybe it had something to do with why his father had called him Pride. He didn't know why, but that really stuck out at him.

Closing his eyes, Selim tried to concentrate. There had to be an explanation for all of this, and he could figure it out. He was smarter then most kids his age, he just had to think. Slowly, almost without his realizing it, the pulsing began to get stronger. When he finally did realize, he began to focus on it, trying to keep it like that. Maybe that had something to do with all of this.

"Selim, are you awake in there?" His mother called, knocking on his door. Opening his eyes, the pulsing sensation quickly faded back to normal.

"Y-yes mother," He called back. The door opened and his mother stepped in, looking rather worried. Selim figured she probably would be, he had been unconscious for some reason, whether it was passing out in class, or being strangled to death by his father. Not only that but when he woke up, he couldn't stop crying because he thought his father was going to kill him. Of course she'd look worried.

"Are you alright, dear?" She asked. Selim wasn't sure how to answer, he wanted to ask her what was going on. He wanted to tell her that his father tried to kill him, but he was afraid to. What if she just thought he was insane. Finally, he decided to figure out what she thought happened, and work from there.

"Yes, I'm fine now. I just," Selim tried to find the right words to ask. He didn't want her to get suspicious of anything before he had everything figured out, it would only worry her more. "Um, how did I, get unconscious, the first time?"

"You passed out during class sweetie, don't you remember?" His mother asked. Selim shook his head, hoping she would explain a bit more. "You had been complaining of a headache, so your tutor went to go get the doctor, and when they came back you fell on the floor. Are you sure you're alright?" She asked again, and Selim nodded.

"I'm fine mother, don't worry," He said, and tried his best to smile, although he was already trying to piece things together in his mind. His mother stood up, interrupting his thoughts.

"Alright, dinner will be done in about an hour. Oh, and your father wants to see you," Selim froze. He wasn't sure if he could hold up in front of his father. He sure couldn't last time, but maybe… maybe he could help with explaining what had happened.

"Yes mother, I'll go see him now," Selim said, and slid off his bed. Walking through the halls he noticed more things that shouldn't be there. Paintings he'd never seen, rooms that were the wrong color, furniture with the wrong fabric, or in the wrong spot. Maybe if he could go without bursting into tears, his father could explain it all.

Finally he reached his father's office. His train set wasn't inside, but it didn't really surprise him, not after everything else. "You wanted to see me, father?" Selim said hesitantly, letting his father know he was there.

"Yes, come in," Bradley said, and Selim quickly did as he was told, shutting the door behind him. "How do you feel?" Bradley asked, not looking up from his paperwork.

"Fine now, father," Selim responded politely. He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask, or how, but he had a feeling his father knew something he didn't.

"Selim," Bradley started. The boy in question stared at his father, letting him know he had his attention. "Do the words, promised day, mean anything to you?" Selim looked down in thought. He couldn't read his father's expression, so he had no idea if he was supposed to know what they meant or not. He decided that just going with the truth would be the best chose, if he guessed right, and he didn't really know, something bad could happen.

"No father, are they supposed to?" His father shook his head, but still didn't look up.

"No, it's alright. You may go now," Bradley said, waving a hand to dismiss him. Selim simply nodded and left the room. Once out he went straight back to his room, and sunk into his bed.

Well, that went well…ish. It could of definitely been worse. He could of burst out crying again. Laying on his bed, he began to go over the conversation in his head. What had his father meant by, promised day? Did it have something to do with why he had called him pride?

Soon his mother called him to dinner. It was there that he learned his father was going to Central HQ for the next few hours, and an idea began to form in the nine year olds' head.

After dinner Selim snuck into his father's office. Trying to push the bookcase out of the way, he was glad to see it still moved, and hadn't changed like some of the other things here. What was behind the bookcase had defiantly changed, though.

There was a tunnel leading downward. He couldn't see how far it went, but it was most certainly far. Stepping into the tunnel, he turned around and pushed the bookcase back into place. He didn't want his mother or a maid to come in and see the big hole in the wall and start to go down it, it could be dangerous.

Once the bookcase was back in place he began down. There were small lights stuck on the walls every now and then, so it wasn't pitch black. That calmed him down a bit, he's always been afraid of total darkness. Not the dark, just total dark. Soon he reached an even larger tunnel. There was a grate on the ceiling. Walking along the path, he at first thought the grates were just where the wires for lighting and stuff were, but then he began hearing noises from them. Looking up, he saw eyes. Hundreds of them, glowing in the darkness and staring at him.

Whimpering to try and keep from screaming, Selim kept walking forward. They hadn't attacked him yet. He tried to keep the same pace he had been going before, and not brake out into a run, that might stir the things up there. What ever they were. Much to big to be rats, that was for sure.

Finally he reached the place where the tunnel seemed to be leading. There were pipes, or were they huge wires, running all over the ground. They all seemed to lead to a chair in the center of the room. Selim was facing the back of it, so he couldn't see who, if anybody, was in the chair.

Something moving in the corner of his eye caught Selim's attention, and he nearly fell down spinning himself to face it. It was a person standing up, although Selim didn't recognize him…or was it a her? The person had long, green hair that stuck out at a bunch of odd angles, and it was wearing a skin tight black top, and what appeared to be a skirt, or maybe it was a skort, you know, those shorts with the fabric around then that make them look like skirts. Who ever it was had seemed to notice him though, and was coming straight towards him. What should he do, run? Hide? Just stand there like an idiot as he was currently doing?

"Why hello there Pride, what brings you here?" The person asked. Selim blinked in confusion. Pride, that's what his father had called him. Why was this person calling him it too, now? Was there something he was missing, something he'd forgot? Or was it all that white figures fault?

"W-who are you?" Selim asked the person. He knew it probably sounded strange, as this person apparently knew him. His suspicion was conformed by the look on the stranger's face.

"What the matter, you hit your head or something?" The person asked. Selim knew he wouldn't figure anything out by being a scared little kid, so he decided to answer this strange person's question, no matter how much he scared him.

"No, but I have no idea who you are, or what all this is, could you please explain it to me?" Selim asked, trying to sound polite as to not anger the stranger. He (Selim figured it was a he, despite the way he dressed) had seemed pretty laid back so far, but you could never know.

"Err, Pride, it's me. Envy. You sure nothing happened to you?" The person, now revealed to be Envy, asked again. Selim didn't answer his question, though. He was too busy thinking. Envy, and pride. He knew those two things had something in common with one another. They were in a group or something, he just couldn't remember what.

"Yoo-hoo! Earth to Pride? Are you in there?" Envy asked, waving his hand in front of the boy's face. Selim quickly nodded, coming out of his thoughts.

"Y-yes! I'm sorry," Selim apologized, although that didn't seem to be the exact right thing to do. Envy looked even more confused.

"What you apologizing for?" The green haired man asked, and Selim shrugged, not looking him in the eyes. There was something strange about this person, now that he was so close. Something about him, and this whole place, actually, felt wrong.

"I-" Selim cut off though, when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Turning towards them, he saw they were coming from the tunnel he had come out of. He was very worried, what if more scary people were going to come? What if they found out he wasn't this 'Pride' person?

Selim's breath was stuck in his throat when he saw who it was. He almost wished it was another stranger. The Envy person didn't seemed too fazed, though. He just rocked back onto his heals.

"Hey Wrath, something happened to Pride here? You're the one that's always with him," Envy asked. Selim saw the confused look on his father's face turn into a bit of shock when he saw him.

"F-father! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go down your secret tunnel! I just…" Selim trailed off as he noticed both his father and this Envy person were staring at him. Envy looked at him, then his father, then back to him, then back to his father. He then let out a long, low whistle.

"Damn Wrath, you screwed something up, big time."

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Oh nose! Cliffhanger, well, sort of. Selim has found his way to the underground lair! What will happen now? Hell if I know, not like I'm the one writing it or anything.

Well, please review, it makes me explode like a thousand rainbow unicorns in happiness.


	6. Chapter 5

Why hello there. Well, I have finally finished FMA, all of it… Forever… but never mind that, I'll always have fan fiction. Speaking of fan fiction, here is the next chapter of this one.

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA

Chapter 5

Selim was terrified. He didn't know what this Envy person was talking about, but his father looked furious. He wasn't entirely sure who Envy meant by 'Wrath' but he had a pretty good idea. If he was right then… oh no… He was suddenly even more terrified, and was struggling to keep the tears from falling. He didn't want to make someone named 'Wrath' angry.

"Envy, where's father?" King Bradley asked. Selim looked up at him, confused. He was told his grandparents had died. What did he mean by Father?

"He's over there, asleep," The man known as Envy said. Selim looked to where he had pointed. It was where all the tubes had lead, to that giant chair. Was his grandfather in that chair? Bradley nodded and turned to the young boy.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Selim instantly looked down. He didn't want to say it was his father snapping his neck, but he was a terrible liar. Oh great, he was already starting to cry. He hadn't even said anything yet!

Envy just smirked and leaned agents a wall. "So, what seems to be the problem?" He asked, sounding as nonchalant as could be. Bradley turned towards the skinny teen and glared.

"He doesn't appear to remember who, or what, he is. He's acting like a normal human child," Selim looked up at his father's words, momentarily stopping his tears, although lines of salty water still streaked his face. What was that suppose to mean? He was a normal human child. Envy pushed himself off the wall and began waking over to the two.

"Well, we should certainly tell father about that, but until then," Envy had reached them now, and was kneeling in front of Selim, his nearly psychotic smirk still in place, "stop scaring the kid." Bradley growled, a hand on his sword. Envy simply rolled his eyes and turned back towards Selim, who had taken a step or two back. He didn't trust Envy, not in the least.

"Hey there, it's alright." Selim took another step back, but it didn't seem to discourage Envy any. "Heh, your old man scared you good, didn't he?" Selim's eyes flicked to the man's arm, that had begun to move. Well, at first he thought it had moved, but it really just change. It was a blade.

"Ah…ah…" Selim kept stepping back, but Envy never seemed to get any farther away. Suddenly, he was on the floor. He figured he must of tripped over one of those wires. Envy was on top of him now, and Selim didn't have any time to get away. The tears started again. He didn't want to die! Not twice in two days! Closing his eyes, he waited for the pain, but it never came.

When he finally got the courage to look up, Envy was no longer hovering over him menacingly, but standing off to the side, a puzzled expression on his face. Selim stood up quickly, not wanting to be that vulnerable ever again. Envy shook his head and turned towards Bradley.

"Yep, something defiantly wrong with him," The green haired man said, nodding his head a few times. "Dude, Wrath, what did you _do?_" Bradley, or Wrath, glared at Envy.

"He was like this when he woke up," His father said. Selim looked at his father and the strange person talking, then to what looked like another tunnel on the other side of the room, back to his father and Envy, and back to the tunnel again. Making sure they were deep in conversation, and staying behind the large chair, Selim tip toed across the room and started down the other tunnel.

Once a good ways down the tunnel, Selim stopped. There were grates on the ceiling full of strange creatures down this way too, but like the ones beforehand, they didn't attack. He wondered how long it would take them to notice he was gone. He hoped it was a long time, he couldn't face either of them right now. Spotting a place where a smaller tunnel ran off, Selim went down it and sat agents the wall, needing a moment to concentrate and clear his head.

Alright, he currently had no idea where he was, was on the run from his own father and a man who could turn his right arm into a blade, had no idea where he had gotten the alias 'Pride' from and he still had no clear idea what that white figure had done when he was brought back to life. Not knowing anything else to do, he started to cry. He had no idea how long he stayed like that, but he didn't really care.

"_Wha…?" _Selim's head shot up. Looking around, he was positive he had heard someone, but there was no one to be seen. Shaking his head, the little boy started to dry his eyes. "_What's going on?" _Selim froze. He definitely heard someone that time. Standing up, he backed agents the wall.

"Who's there? Who said that?" Selim demanded, trying his best to sound threatening, not that it was very successful. His voice was still horse from all the crying, and he wasn't a very threatening person to begin with.

"_I should be asking you that. Where am I?" _Selim looked around the tunnel, but couldn't spot anyone. They sounded close, though. He sounded familiar too, but he couldn't explain from where.

"I-I don't know," Selim answered. He heard the voice make a small hmp sound. It sounded like a boy, around his age. Only he sounded much more sure of himself, much stronger. Suddenly Selim heard the other boy gasp, which confused him. If he was close enough to hear that, he should be able to see him.

"_Get out,"_ The other boy demanded. He sounded a bit angry, and Selim just stood where he was, his head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Why? Get out of the tunnel?" He asked. Was something going to happen? And where was this boy anyway? It wasn't like he could just turn invisible.

"_No. My container, get out of my container and give me back control," _The boy's voice had this controlled kind of anger to it that was actually much more fearsome then if he had yelled. Selim could only scrunch his face up in confusion.

"What container? Who are you?" He asked. He was beginning to get his confidence back, if just a little bit. He did wish he could see this boy though, or at least figure out why his voice sounded so familiar.

"_My body you fool. How did you gain control of my body? Who are you?" _The still unnamed boy growled. Selim looked down at himself. This was his body, wasn't it? Sure, he felt a bit different, stronger, but it was still his body.

"T-this is my body. There's no way I could take over someone else's. Also, I'm Selim Bradley, now who are you?" Selim asked yet again, and once again, he heard the other boy gasp. It was very quiet, like he didn't want anyone to know he was surprised, but Selim heard it. Actually, he could almost feel it, and then the anger. The other boy was angry, although Selim didn't have any clue how he knew without hearing his voice or seeing him.

"_That is not your body, and you are not Selim Bradley. As for who I am, I am Pride. Selim Bradley is simply the alias I took, he does not exist." _

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Sorry for the long wait and then only this short chapter to show for it. I had trouble getting this chapter down, stupid writers block. Also, does anyone else dream about Full metal alchemist? I had a dream involving Pride and Riza Hawkeye last night. I'm not sure what happened, but I think Pride asked her to marry him….. Might turn that into a crack fic someday… Well, please review.


	7. Chapter 6

Hi there. Has anyone else heard that they are making a brotherhood movie? I looked it up and it sounds legit. Super excited for that, but there are no details I can find anywhere. If someone does find some, tell me.

I will be happy with the movie as long as it doesn't make Pride die after turning evil again or well, at least regaining his memories so he's back to the creepy child we all know and love, or something. I'm all for him turning evil, as long as he doesn't die. If that happens I'll be even more disappointed then when they have Wrath die in CoS.

Enough of my rant, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 6

Selim couldn't believe his ears. He was lying, he had to be. There was no way that he didn't exist. Selim shook his head, leaning agents the wall for the support his legs suddenly couldn't supply. "N-no, you're lying," He finally stuttered out in what seemed like an eternity. The voice, Pride, sneered.

"_I am not lying, now leave, or I'll force you out myself_," Pride growled. Selim shook his head again, even if he wanted to, how was he suppose to leave? "_I don't know, but find a way,"_ Selim shot up.

"But I didn't say that out loud," He protested, glancing around himself out of instinct. It was so weird talking to someone you couldn't see.

"_You're inside my container, so I can hear your thoughts, I suppose,_" Pride said, sounding the slightest bit puzzled by the phenomenon. Selim just nodded, and began walking down the tunnel again. "_Hey, where are you going?"_ the voice in his head asked angrily. It didn't faze Selim too much though, he was beginning to get used to it.

"You can tell I'm walking?" He asked. Why hadn't he spoke before?

"_Yes, and because, I just woke up,_" Pride answered, both the spoken question and the unspoken one. Selim was going to have to get used to that. He heard Pride huff and bit, and could feel his annoyance. "_Well, where are you going?_" He asked again. Selim stopped walking, he wasn't really sure.

"I think I'm running away," He said finally. Yeah, that was it. He couldn't go back home, not with his dad the way he was, it was too dangerous. He knew Pride was going to protest before any words came out of his mouth, or well, formed in his head.

"_No you are not. You are going to return my container so that I can go back home and have Father expel you from my body for good,"_ Pride growled. Needless to say, Selim did not like this plan all too much. And why did he keep saying container? That sure was a strange thing to call your body. "_Because it is just a container,_" Selim was liking the whole mind reading thing less and less. "_Too bad_," Of course.

"W-well, if you want it back, then take it, because I really don't know how to give it up," Selim said. Maybe he couldn't read Pride's thoughts, but he could tell how he felt, and right then it was annoyance, then determination, then disappointment and anger. "You can't?" he felt Pride quickly try and cover the disappointment with more anger.

"_You'll be gone as soon as we go back to father and have him expel you,"_ Pride growled.

"Well, I'm not going back home anyway, so father wont expel me," Selim said definitively. He wasn't going to die again. What ever had happened had aloud him to live, and if living meant having to share his body with some strange voice and never going home, that's what he would do.

"_Die?"_ Pride asked, actually sounding a bit curious, and Selim could tell for certain that he was. He wondered if it was a good idea to tell him, but figured it would be hard to hide it from the voice in his head who could read his thoughts anyway.

"Y-yeah. Father strangled me, and then I went though his weird door thing, and a weird figure told me he could let me live, and then I woke up in your body, I guess," Selim explained. He could tell Pride was thinking hard, but even after a few minutes he didn't way anything, and so Selim just kept walking.

Eventually he reached the end of the tunnel. Some stares led up to a rusty gated entry way in the back of an alleyway. He was glad it didn't lead back into his house, and that his father or that Envy person hadn't caught up with him.

"_They will,_" Selim decided to ignore that. He just needed to focus on what to do first. He couldn't go back home, so he had no food, no money, no clothes and no idea where to go. He figured it could be worse, but he didn't know how.

Climbing out of the alley he really was lost. He'd never been outside of the very center of the capital, and this looked like the slums to him. His first instinct was to head back to the nicer, safer parts of Central, but he figured there was a greater chance of him being found and returned home in those parts.

Looking around though he realized he stood out like a sore thumb. Everything here, including the people, was so dirty. Here he was with his new, clean clothes. What if someone tried to kidnap him and use him as ransom? What if they found out he was the president's son?

"_Can't you defend yourself at all?_" Pride sneered in his head. Selim realized sadly that he couldn't. He just wasn't a fighter. Pride sighed. "_Useless. You'll be fine, it would take much, much, more then a random mugger to harm my container." _Selim could defiantly feel a bit of the emotion the voice was named for coming from him.

Walking along Selim wondered if he should just leave Central all together. Once he didn't come home his father, and if not, his mother, would have the entire city turned upside down to find him. He should probably leave as soon as possible, but he didn't have any money for a train…

"_You could always sneak on,"_ Pride said, and then quickly winced at his own words. Selim could tell he hadn't meant to say that, think, whatever, out loud. Smiling, the small boy nodded.

"Thanks Pride, that's a great idea," He could feel the anger bubbling up, although it only made Selim giggle. He could do this. He would go someplace far, far away from Central, where no one would ever find him. He would miss mother, though. He could sense Pride perk up a bit at his most recent thought, but just ignored it. Ah well, maybe one day when he's grown up he could go see mother. Selim frowned a bit, something was wrong with Pride. He seemed almost… well, sad.

"What's wrong? Pride?" Selim asked. Again he quickly began to mask his emotions.

"_Nothing,"_ Pride growled, and Selim decided to just leave him. Turning a corner Selim realized he had no idea where the train station was, and still no idea where he even was. It was no use asking Pride, he didn't want him to run away anyway, he wouldn't help. On purpose, at least. He wasn't about to ask one of the random people on the street, well, maybe he would once he got to a more appealing part of town.

Getting to that more appealing part of time took him about an hour, but once he did it only took a five second conversation with a nice looking lady, and he was on his way to the train station. He could feel Pride near pouting, it was rather funny, especially for someone who seemed to try and be so intimidating. Although once he thought that the pouting was replaced with another bout of anger.

"_I am not pouting, you brat,_" The voice growled. Selim decided to turn his thoughts to something else.

The train station was coming into view. Now he just had to figure out how to sneak on one. He reasoned it would be easiest to sneak onto one of the storage compartments, and just jump out at any random stop. It didn't matter what train he got on either, as long as it went away.

Sneaking over to the loading decks, he hid behind a large crate, trying to decide when and where it would be best to sneak on. Watching the men work, he saw that there were a few box carts that weren't locked, but had already been loaded. Picking one of those to hop on, he waited until the men had their backs turned.

Running fast and low to the ground, he made his way to the door. Pulling it open just enough to squeeze though, he went in, closing it behind him.

It was pitch black. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Gulping, Selim made his way over to a corner, running into quite a few wooden crates along the way. He'd never liked it when it was dark like this. Apparently neither did Pride. Although he didn't seem scared, just annoyed.

Sitting down, he felt what he assumed to be some kind of tarp on the ground by his foot. Pulling on it, it only went about halfway up his torso, caught under one of the crates. Yawning, Selim was suddenly very tired. It was getting late, when he had hopped onto the box cart, the sun was almost set.

All of a sudden, the floor underneath him lurched forward. It had nearly given him a heart attack. He could feel Pride's annoyance with him, but he didn't care, he hadn't been expecting it to move so suddenly.

The ride was very bumpy and loud. He guessed it was probably a lot better in the passenger parts of the train, but soon the bangs and rattles just vanished to the back of his head as white noise. Selim even got used to the bumps, although that was mostly because of how exhausted he was. It was hard to feel the box cart jumping around when you were fast asleep.

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Selim is on the run! What will happen next to our little hero? Beats me. Well, please review, they are like candy for the soul.


	8. Chapter 7

Hello one and all. I'd just like to say thank you to anyone who's reviewed this story so far. Statistically it's my most successful one yet, so it makes me very happy.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

Chapter 7

Selim awoke a few hours later, the silence actually being the thing that stirred him. He'd gotten so used to the banging and clanging that when it stopped he noticed it immediately. Pushing himself upright, the tired boy rubbed his eyes.

"Wha…? Selim groaned, not recognizing anything in the darkness around him. Standing up, he kept his hands on a crate to keep himself from running into it.

"_You're in the train,"_ Pride's voice echoed inside of his head coldly. That was right, he was running away. Squinting into the dark he tried to find a clear path to the door. It was too dark, though, so he had to feel his way along, just like when he had snuck in. Finally reaching the door, he peeked out.

They were stopped, like he had thought. He had no idea where he were or how far away from Central they were. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been on the train, having fallen asleep. Seeing as no one was watching his box cart though, he decided it would be best to just jump out here, and figure everything else out after. If he needed to get farther away, he would just hop on another train.

Dropping out of the train, he quickly left the station. Looking around, he'd never been in a place like this before. It wasn't anything like Central at all. There was grass everywhere, and hardly any people. He must have been asleep longer then he thought. Looking up at the sky, it was still sunset though. He must have been asleep for an entire day.

"_Now where do you plan on hiding?"_ Pride asked, a condescending tone to his voice. It sounded like he was suggesting it would be hopeless, and he more like then not was.

"I don't know," Selim said quietly. He really didn't. He had no money, but it didn't look like there was any hotels here anyway, where ever here was. Walking along a dirt path, he thought about his options. He could find a nice, secluded spot and sleep in the grass. It didn't look like there was anyone who would attack him, and if he went far enough into a field, he doubted anyone would find him anyway. He wasn't tired right now, though. He'd just slept for a day.

Looking ahead he saw the path winded up a large hill. There was a tree at the top and…something else.

"_What is it?"_ Pride asked, sounding bored. Selim wondered if it was boring sitting in his head all day. "_I've gone though worse_" Pride answered automatically. What could be worse? "_Try the fourth grade nine times, passing each time." _Oh.

"Well, I don't know what it is," Selim said, and continued to walk up the hill. It looked like a pile of something. Absently he wondered why the tree didn't have any leaves on it. It wasn't winter, was it dead?

Finally reaching the top of the hill, Selim stood in front of a huge pile of burnt wood and some twisted metal. From the looks of it, it was once a house. "_The remains of a fire,"_ Pride said coldly, sounding bored again. Selim suddenly remembered his own house fire, most likely started by that Mr. Mustang. "_Cornel Roy Mustang?"_ Pride asked, sounding intrigued again. Selim nodded.

"He broke into my house and tried to kill father," The young boy said quietly. Pride didn't question him anymore, which Selim was grateful for. He still wasn't quite over that traumatizing event yet.

Selim wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at the burnt remains when he heard someone come up behind him. Instantly in defense mode, he turned around faster then he thought possible, expecting to see that Envy person, or his father again.

"Hello there, who are you?" It was just a girl. She was older then Selim, and her long, blonde hair was tied up in a pony tail. Her eyes were the same color blue as the sky, well, right now the sky was more red then blue, but you get the point. Selim smiled at her and laughed nervously. Pride had been making him paranoid.

"I'm Selim B-" He cut himself off quickly. He couldn't go around telling people his real name, he'd be sent home in no time. Thinking fast, he thought up a fake last name. "Bach, That's right, Selim Bach!" The blonde smiled at him, then glanced over at the blackened wood he'd been staring at a moment ago.

"What are you doing here? I've never seen you around town before?" She asked a bit suspiciously. Selim rubbed the back of his head nervously, trying to appear as cute as possible. His ability to do that had gotten him out of trouble back home quite a bit. That actually seemed to amuse Pride, if just a little.

"I, uh… I got on the wrong train, but I don't have any money to get another ticket, and the train with all my stuff on it left while I was asking for directions. So I was looking around and saw something at the top of this hill. Was this your house?" Selim explained. That sounded like a believable lie, right?

"_That was actually quite good,_" Pride said, sounding a bit impressed. Selim had to hold back his smile, he had to look lost and embarrassed.

"Oh, that's terrible! You could stay at my house for tonight, I don't think the trains will be running for that much longer. Also, no, that's not my house, the people who lived here left years ago," The blonde girl said, and Selim nodded.

"Really? Thank you Ms. Lady!" the little boy said happily. Ms. Lady, as he had called her, laughed.

"I haven't introduced myself, have I? My names Winry Rockbell, pleased to meet you," Winry said, holding her hand out at him. Selim shook it and smiled back at her.

"Nice to meet you too, thanks again," He said, trying to sound polite. Winry nodded and started leading him back to her house. He assumed it was the yellow one, not to far from them, and his guess was confirmed when they stopped in front of the yard, and a large dog came up to them.

Selim smiled and went to pet the animal. He'd always wanted a dog, but was never allowed to get one. Before he was able to touch it, though, the dog began to growl at him. Stepping back, Selim was a bit afraid.

"Den! Stop that!," Winry chastised, and the dog quieted a bit, but didn't completely stop.

"_Stupid mutt,_" Pride growled, although Selim thought he felt a bit disappointed. "_What are you thinking about? What would I be disappointed about?"_ Selim sighed under his breath. "Nothing," He mumbled quietly, so that Winry didn't hear.

"Sorry about Den, he's usually really well behaved," Winry apologized. Selim shook his head and smiled at her.

"It's fine," He said, and took one last look at the dog. "Oh! It has automail!" Selim said excitedly. He really wished the dog would let him pet him now, he'd seen a few people with automail before, but not much, and never an animal.

"Yep, I made it myself," Winry said, sounding quite proud. Selim had to suppress his giggles, whenever he thought of being proud, or pride, it just reminded him of the voice in his head.

"Wow, you're an automail mechanic?" The black haired boy asked. He would have never guessed that. He imagined automail mechanics as burly men covered in grease all the time, not a skinny girl like her. He believed her though.

"Yep. Now, why don't we go in and get some dinner. Maybe I can show you some of my works in progress," Winry said, and Selim nodded then followed her inside.

The inside of the house was nice, just like the outside. He was glad they had left the dog outside, he didn't want to have it growling at him all night.

"Grandma, I'm back, and I have a visitor!" Winry called into the house. So she lived with her grandmother? Selim poked at a few screws left on a table. Were they for automail? He could tell Pride felt curious about everything here as well, especially Winry. He kept mumbling about a young, blond automail mechanic. And how, it couldn't be. Selim was about to ask him what he meant when an old woman stepped into the doorway.

"Well, who do we have here? What's your name boy?" The short, wrinkly woman asked. Selim couldn't help but notice that she was almost shorter then he was!

"Selim Bach, nice to meet you," He said happily. The old woman smiled at him and nodded.

"I'll go set another plate for dinner," She said, and left the room. When it was just the two of them, Winry sat down on a couch.

"So, where were you going? Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourself?" She asked.

"Dublith," Selim said, picking the first city that came to his head, "I was going to stay with some relatives," He finished. He didn't think it was the best idea to tell random people he was running away. They'd probably try to take him home.

"Did you tell them what happened?" Winry asked. Selim nodded.

"Hey, can you show me some automail?" He asked excitedly, hoping to change the subject. Winry smiled at him and nodded.

"Alright, my workshop is this way," She said, getting up and walking across the room. Opening a door, she began walking down some stares, Selim following close behind. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Selim looked around. There were tools and screws and half finished pieces all over the place.

"Whoa! It's so cool!" He said poking at what appeared to be the beginning of a leg. "Who's this for?" He asked, poking the leg again.

"A friend of mine. He's always breaking his, so I tend to begin building a rough copy for a new one, just in case," She explained. Selim moved from the leg to another part of the workshop, poking at things here and there, but careful not to break anything.

"Your friend must be really clumsy, if he breaks his leg a lot," he said absently. How did someone break his leg a lot? Must be the same reason why he needed automail in the first place.

"Yeah, he is," Winry said, keeping her eyes on his the whole time, making sure he didn't mess with anything too much.

"Dinner's ready," Selim heard the old woman call from upstairs. Following Winry, he went to the kitchen. Whatever it was smelt delicious.

"Well, eat up," the old woman said, placing a bowl of stew in front of him. Selim did as he was told. It was really good, no offence to the chef back home or anything. After dinner Winry led him upstairs to the guest room. "You can stay here for tonight. Hmm, let me see if I can find any pajamas that'll fit you," She said, and began rummaging through some draws, mumbling all the while. "Lets see…should be some of Ed's or Al's… I though we put them in here…. Ah, here they are!" the blonde announced happily, holding an old shirt and some pants.

"Here you go, they should fit. Well, I'll leave you to it, then," Winry said, and Selim nodded, now holding the old clothes.

"Alright, thank you again, Ms. Winry," Selim said. Winry turned around and smiled at him before leaving the room.

Putting the pajamas on, Selim smiled to himself. It felt good to be able to change his clothes. Sure, it'd only been about two days, but he guessed being the presidents son did make him a little bit spoiled.

"The people here sure are nice, right Pride?" Selim asked. Pride had been pretty quiet all day, he wondered if something was wrong.

"_I suppose so,_" He said, seeming deep in thought. Selim frowned.

"Something wrong?" Sure, Pride was a strange voice that lived in his head that he'd only known for two days, and he had been asleep for the entirety of one of those days, but he was starting to get a little attached to him. He didn't have many friends. Or any, really.

"_No,"_ Pride didn't say anything after that. Selim sighed softly, not wanting to push him. Sitting down on the bed, it wasn't as soft as the ones back home, but infinitively better then the floor of a boxcar. If everything went well, he'd be on a train to Dublith tomorrow morning, and then… He didn't know, but he'd think of something.

"Goodnight, Pride," Selim said, already starting to doze off. Pride snorted, and Selim could almost see him rolling his eyes.

"_You humans never cease to surprise me,_" Selim opened his eyes again and frowned.

"What do you mean? Pride?" Pride didn't answer though, so Selim just closed his eyes again, falling asleep rather quickly.

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Well, there you have it. Selim is in Rizenbul, (Or however you spell it) and it is revealed that Pride has gone through fourth grade nine times. Well, please review.


	9. Chapter 8

Hello everyone. Best/worst song to have stuck in your head? The Llama Song. Here's a llama there's a llama and another little llama… I'll stop now…

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA or The Llama Song, not that that has anything to do with the actual story.

Chapter 8

Selim awoke the next morning to the sound of yelling. Pushing the blankets off of himself he walked over to the window.

"Wonder who's yelling," Selim mumbled, opening it. Looking out, he saw Winry standing in the middle of the yard, with two… interesting people in front of her. The shorter one looked normal enough, a boy in a red coat with long blonde hair, but the other one… Selim had no idea how someone could stand wearing all that metal in such heat. It was full body armor, he didn't even know why someone would need something like that.

"_Hmm?"_ Pride mumbled. Selim still found it weird that the voice in his head slept. Did that make it real? Suddenly there was a jolt, and Selim had to grab his head in pain.

"Ah! Pride? What was that?" The black haired boy asked. He had a feeling Pride knew, from the way he was mumbling curses to himself.

"_He's here? So this is his mechanic. Just great. Ah well, I guess all this means is your little runaway is getting cut short," _Pride said. Selim frowned, he didn't like the sound of that.

"Who's here? You know those people?" He asked, trying not to sound frantic. He didn't want to be taken back and expelled, or whatever Pride had said they would do to him. Leaning out the window, he tried to get a better look at the two strange visitors. They did look a bit familiar, although he couldn't say from where. Selim could almost see Pride rolling his eyes at him.

"_Yes, I've met them once. It's the full metal alchemist, I'm sure you've heard of him," _Pride explained. Selim nodded, he had heard of him. He was the youngest state alchemist in history. His father had used to talk about him quite a lot, although Selim himself had never actually met him.

"Does he… know about…?" Selim wasn't quite able to finish his question, because he wasn't really sure what was going on. All he knew it was something big, and bad, and he wanted to get away from it. He didn't need to finish though, because Pride understood.

"_No, and you're not going to tell him,_" Pride demanded. He wasn't about to let all of father's plans be ruined just because some child couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Well, we better get going then," Selim said after a moment of silence.

"_What?_" Pride asked. He sounded rather surprised. Apparently he thought Selim was just going to wait there to be caught. Sighing, he began to explain.

"Well, you don't want me to tell them about… whatever it is your doing, and I don't want to be sent back home, so we should leave before they see us, right?" Selim asked. He couldn't help but smile when Pride said nothing. Putting on his own clothes, he was glad to see that Ms. Winry had washed them while he was sleeping. "People sure are nice, right Pride?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"_You asked me that yesterday,_" Pride grumbled. Oh yeah, he had. Selim guessed that he was still a bit upset about not being sent home yet. Glancing around the room one last time, Selim made sure he had everything. He did, seeing as everything, was absolutely nothing.

Sneaking downstairs and out the back door, Selim was glad no one had seen him. Relaxing a bit, he began to walk down the hill that was the backyard. This whole place was hilly, really.

"Hello there, who are you?" Selim nearly jumped ten feet at the question. He could hear Pride laughing at him, and almost told him to stop, before realizing that someone else was there, and that person could not hear the child snickering in his head.

"_I'm not a child!_" Pride protested at the thoughts. Ignoring him, or at least trying to, Selim turned around. It was the armored person. He was sitting agents the house, petting that dog, Den. Upon seeing him, Den began growling again, but was soon scolded by the armored man.

"I-I'm Selim… I was just p-passing through," Selim stuttered. He was better at lying when he was sure if he knew the person or not. If this person thought he was Pride, should he lie and say he wasn't, or pretend to be him?

"Selim? Wait… You're Selim Bradley! What are you doing all the way out here?" The armored man asked. Selim had no idea what to do. If he pretended to be Pride, he would take him home, but if he pretended not to be, he might not believe him.

"I-" spinning on his heels, he began to run. Sure, maybe not his best plan, but it was the only one he could think of right now.

"H-hey!" Mr. Armor yelled, before getting up and beginning to chase him. Selim know he would chase him, but there was no way he could run that far or fast in that armor, right? Pride scoffed in his head.

"_You'll never outrun him,"_ He said matter-of-factly. Selim frowned. This was just Pride trying to sike him out. "_No, it's not,_" Yes, it was-

"Gotcha!" Mr. Armor said, holding Selim up. Twisting and kicking, he tried to get out of his grip, but he was too strong. "C'mon now, stop that," Armor said, still not putting him down. Sighing, Selim stopped.

"_Told you,"_ Pride mumbled. "_and his name is Alphonse Elric, although Mr. Armor is quite nice._"

"Quiet," Selim mumbled, trying to make sure Mr. Arm- err, Alphonse Elric, didn't hear. Once on the ground, he considered running again, but decided agents it. Pride was right, he didn't even seem tired.

"Now, what are you doing all the way out here for? Do your parents know you're here?" Al asked. Not looking him in the face, Selim shook his head. He figured he'd ruined all chances of saying he wasn't Pride, so no use in trying. "Did you run away? Why?" Now what should he say. He couldn't say he had somehow been transported into someone else's body and he ran away after going into some underground chamber where some crazy guy turned his arm into a blade.

"_No, you can't_," And he couldn't say the original owner of this body is living in his head and only he could hear him.

"I…uh…" Selim had to think fast, or he'd know he was lying.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, let's just get you home," Al said, obviously noticing his silence. Selim nodded obediently.

"A-alright," He said, and began following the armor back towards the yellow house. He could feel Pride's shock at his sudden submission.

"_You'd give up just like that?"_ He asked, and Selim had to keep his head down so that Alphonse didn't see his smile. Of course not, I'm just going to run away at the train station or something, Selim thought. "_Oh… idiotic human…"_ Pride grumbled. Why did Pride always call him 'Human?' "_Because that's what you are."_ The voice said, once again in that same matter-of-fact tone as before. Selim decided to just ignore him like before, it was hard talking to someone without actually talking.

Soon the two had arrived at the house. Selim saw the short blond guy, full metal alchemist Edward Elric, sitting in the grass. When he spotted them, he stood up and began walking over.

"Hey Al, where were you? Huh, do we know this kid?" Ed asked, leaning down to try and get a better look at Selim. Selim kept his head down, hoping that the 'Selim' of this world was as shy as he was.

"_Not at all,_" Pride shot down his hope with ease. Selim decided he could just blame it on shame of running away and getting caught then.

"Uh, yeah Ed, this is, well, we just met him a little while ago, this is Selim Bradley," Al said hesitantly.

"What!" Ed yelled, jumping away. "What the hell's he doing here?" the blonde asked, turning towards his brother. Selim noticed that he kept looking around, like he was nervous about something.

"_My body guards tried to shoot him for threatening to hit me once," _Pride explained, a hint of amusement in his voice. Oh, that made sense then.

"He ran away," Al told his brother calmly. Ed looked down at Selim now, an obvious confusion on his face. Selim tried even harder not to meet his eyes, knowing the question that was going to come.

"Why'd you run away?" Of course, you think that he would of thought of something in the time he'd walked here. He had a feeling that Ed wasn't going to accept nothing like his brother had. "Did you're dad do something?" Selim's head shot up. He knew his expression told him he was right, so he quickly tried to change it. Not fast enough though, now he couldn't make up a believable lie that didn't make his dad look bad. Sighing, Ed turned away. "We're taking you home."

Selim just nodded and followed the two brothers inside. He still had no idea how Ed had known it had something to do with his dad. He thought Pride said that they didn't know he was a part of… whatever it was, he wished Pride would just tell him.

"_They know who Wrath is, I never said they didn't. All I said was they hadn't figured out who I am, and no, I am not telling all our plans to a simple human child like you,"_ Pride explained. Well, that made more sense. They knew his father was a part of some weird thing with strange people, but not him. They must of thought he found out something and ran away, which was actually pretty close to the truth.

Once they explained everything to Winry, who nearly fainted, they decided they were taking him back to Central first thing tomorrow morning. Sitting in the spare room they had given him again, Selim lazily read an alchemy book, thinking of ways to give the Elric brother's the slip once they were on there way back home.

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Fuzzy llama funny llama, llama, llama duck! Sorry, would of updated this a little sooner, but summer work and a killer stomach ache decided to get in my way. Has Selim been caught, or will he pull the rug out from under Ed and Al's feet? Will I continue to ask pointless questions at the end of my author's notes? Probably!

Well, please review.


	10. Chapter 9

Hello all. Sorry for the long wait, was rather busy with summer work this week. Still not done, but I'll get there. Well, you don't want to here about that, you just want the next chapter, so I wont make you wait any longer.

_Italics_ are Pride talking.

**Bold** is Selim thinking to Pride

Disclaimer- Don't own Full metal alchemist, deal with it.

Chapter 9

Selim Bradley sat on the train, staring out the window. Edward Elric was next to him, and Alphonse was sitting on the bench across from them. He didn't make eye contact with either of the two brother's though. If they found out that something was up with him, then he might not be able to find his chance to escape. He just stared out the window, playing the part of the child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

"**Pride?**"Selim thought. He was getting more used to the idea of talking to Pride in his thoughts, but it was still hard to keep a straight face.

"_Yes,"_ Pride answered, a bored tone to his voice. Selim wasn't too sure what he wanted, he was just starting to get a little bored. Before he was able to say, well, think anything though, the younger of the two brothers interrupted him. "So, Selim, is this the first time you've been out of central?" Selim nodded, keeping his gaze out the window. He could hear Pride sigh, and he wondered if his act wasn't going very well. Pride had said he'd met the Elrics before, but Selim didn't know how the voice had acted around the two.

"_Excited, innocent, starry-eyed, pretty much a Fullmetal fan boy, so your act isn't very accurate indeed," _Selim nearly winced at Pride's words, but then he had to suppress the urge to smile. It was very hard imaging the arrogant and high-strung boy in his head acting that way. "_I'm a good actor,"_ Once again, the urge to smile hit him and he had to turn his head even more towards the window to hide it.

After a few hours the train pulled into a station. It was busy, much busier then the one in Resembool, although defiantly not up to par with the ones in Central. Ed stood up and started to stretch.

"Alright, we need to change trains here, but we gotta hurry, the next one leaves in about twenty minutes," Ed explained, grabbing a small suitcase. Selim nodded absently. This was his chance. He would disappear in the crowds, it would be simple enough.

Walking behind the two brothers Selim waited until they were in a large enough crowd that they wouldn't notice if he wasn't behind them right away. Slipping off the young boy went straight towards the exit, not looking back to see if the brothers had noticed his absents yet.

Once out of the train station Selim saw the town was just like it. No where near as big as Central, no where near as small as Resembool. Running off in a random direction, he didn't have any more to his plan then get away.

Leaning agents a brick wall and panting, he smiled. He had to be at least halfway across town by now, and there hadn't been one incident so far. "Heh heh, hey Pride, it actually worked," Selim laughed a bit. He hadn't thought that getting away from the Full Metal Alchemist and his brother was going to be so easy, but then again he hadn't thought getting away from the strange people was going to work out either.

"_What do you know, it did,_"Pride's voice echoed in his head. He was sounding less annoyed and a little bit more amused. Selim didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing though. If he was amused did that mean he didn't think his plan would work in the end? "_Oh, it definitely wont work in the end, I'm just waiting for you to get caught for good now," _Pride answered, sounding even more amused then before. Selim decided to just ignore him and focus on what to do next.

Walking along the streets at a more natural pace, the black haired boy tried to gather himself. He should probably leave town, although not on a train this time. If he went back to the train station, he's probably get caught. Nodding to himself, he would just walk until he had left this town behind and was in another. Once there he would slip onto another train, and then go from there. It was simple, but so far, simple worked.

Keeping towards the back lots and shadows, Selim tried to stay out of sight. He knew Edward and Alphonse would notice he was gone, and they'd search the entire town for him. They would probably go to the police too. Now that he'd slowed down enough to actually take in his surrounding, he'd realized this wasn't the nicest town in the world. Sure, he was sticking towards the edges of the poorer parts on purpose, but that didn't change the fact that their was a lot of them.

It was probably around three o'clock when Selim realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten a proper meal since he'd left the Rockbell's house. Ed and Al had seemed to be in a hurry to get him home, and they hadn't eaten on the train.

Feeling the inside of his pockets he sighed, of course no money would of magically appeared, but it was worth a try. "Pride, I'm hungry," Selim mumbled.

"_I'm a three hundred year old super being forced to be nothing more then a voice inside of some annoying child's head, what exactly do you want me to do about getting you food?_" Pride growled. Selim would of felt a little hurt about being yelled at like that, if it wasn't for what Pride had said.

"A three hundred year old super being?" The child asked. That was the first he'd ever heard of that. What were these strange people?

"_Yes, but I'm not telling you anything else,"_ Selim sighed and nodded. Hopefully Pride would tell him eventually. Placing a hand on his stomach, Selim sighed again. Super being's body or not, he was still hungry. "_Just steal some food if it bothers you that much,_" Pride finally suggested.

Steal some food. Selim had never done anything like that before, he'd never had to. Not to mention stealing was wrong. Stomach rumbling again, Selim decided their were much worse things then taking a few oranges or something from a stand full of them. If he did it right, no one would probably even notice.

Wondering around a bit, Selim was glad to actually find a crowded outside market. Peaking out from behind a corner, he noticed a cart filled with an assortment of fruits run by an old man. Looking around the plaza, that looked like the easiest one to plunder. Staring at the cart, Selim tried to think up a plan.

The black haired boy nearly jumped a foot into the air when two kids slammed into the cart he'd been eyeing. He couldn't hear them, but from the looks of it they were apologizing while picking up the fruit that spilled. Selim's eyes went wide when he saw the kids slipping some of the fruit. Thieves! Now he couldn't take from the old man. Selim wasn't about to make someone get robbed twice in one day. Watching the two kids run off, Selim made a split second decision to follow them. Better to steal from thieves then from the innocent, right?

"_You are such a child,"_ Pride grumbled, and Selim could almost see him rolling his eyes. The black haired boy stuck out his tongue and giggled quietly.

"**But aren't you a child, too Pride?**" Selim asked in his head. He didn't want the children to notice he was following them.

"_No. I already told you, I'm three hundred years old,"_ The voice echoed in his head, and Selim laughed quietly to himself again.

The children turned into an alleyway, and Selim slowed to a walk as he went in. They had to be getting close to where ever they were heading, right? The streets were turning into a maze, and Selim was barely able to tell which way the two were going, catching glimpses of them speeding around corners and such.

Finally he saw them sneak into an old, abandoned looking building. It might have been an apartment complex at one time, Selim wasn't sure. He waited a few minutes before walking up towards the run down building. Stepping onto an old crate sitting lazily next to the brick wall, he peaked inside one of the dirty windows.

There looked to be four kids inside, including the ones he had followed. Scanning the room, Selim saw it, a long box with food on top. Surely there was a way to get to it without the kids noticing. Selim felt a little bad about stealing from kids, most of them around his age, but they could always just steal more. They seemed to be good at it, and Selim wasn't.

Jumping down from the crate, the black haired boy wiped his hands together. "Okay, just have to sneak in, grab some food, and sneak out, that doesn't sound too hard. What do you think, Pride?" Selim asked.

"Oh, I think that's a great idea," Selim froze and gulped. The voice did not echo around his head like he was used to.

"_Turn around stupid_," Pride ordered. Nodding just slightly, Selim turned around. Standing in front of him was another kid, although he was at least four years older then Selim himself, and from the looks of it much stronger. The dirty teen was smirking at him, his arms folded over his chest. Taking a step back, Selim tripped over the old crate.

"So, how do you plan on sneaking in, huh?" The teen asked. Selim didn't answer, only backing up more, until his back was agents the old brick wall.

"**Pride?**" Selim asked inside his head, wishing he had done that beforehand.

"_Yes,_" The voice named for a sin answered, sounding more annoyed then anything, and certainly not scared. That helped Selim a little bit, but not much.

"**I'm not hungry anymore,**" Selim could almost feel Pride slap his hand to hit forehead in frustration.

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Hurry, finally done. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I hope the next chapter will come quicker, but it will probably be another week for that one too. Sometimes I hate having a life. Well, tootles, and please review.


	11. Chapter 10

Hi there people. Hurry for first actual downtime in two weeks. And what do I do with it? Write fan fiction of course! Well, here you go.

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA.

Chapter 10

Selim stared at the tall teenager standing over him. This was bad, very, very bad. Selim couldn't fight, he had a feeling Pride could take this kid out easily, but he wasn't Pride. He was just a timid little bookworm who had no idea what he was doing in the long run. The teen took a step closer, and Selim ducked his head down and covered it with his hands. He really had no idea what else to do, and it didn't look like Pride was going to help him any.

Selim opened his eyes, (when had he closed them?) at the sound of laughing. Getting the courage to look up, he saw the older teen snickering, shaking his head. The boy on the ground frowned, he didn't think his fear was very funny.

"Yo kid, relax, it's okay," The teen said, wiping his eyes. Selim didn't say anything, he didn't trust this guy yet. "You hungry kid? Here," The teen held out some kind of melon fruit thing. Selim just nodded and took the fruit, still rather confused. Biting into it, he didn't say anything as the dirty teenager sat down on the crate he'd tripped on.

"I'm Jed, and I'm guessin you saw the kids inside, right?" The teen, now know an Jed, asked. Selim simply nodded, his mouth full of fruit. He still wasn't quite sure what kind it was, but it was good none the less. "None of us have homes," Selim's head shot up at that. Of course, somewhere in the back of his mind he had considered something like this, but he didn't think it was really true. He just liked to believe they were kids playing. "Kind of like you, right?"

Selim though for a bit before nodding. He didn't have a home anymore. He'd left it all behind him, he wasn't going to get caught up with those crazy people. Sure, Pride wasn't so bad, but that didn't shake the terrible feeling he got when he thought of those underground tunnels and the people that lived in them.

Standing up, Jed dusted off his pants. "Now, I'm not gonna ask you where you came from, or how you ended up here, but you're welcome to come inside," Selim nodded and followed the teen into the run down building.

"Hey, we got a new one!" Jed called, stepping inside. The four kids that Selim had seen earlier all stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the newcomer. Selim had to resist the urge to hide behind Jed. He'd never been the most social kid in the world.

Jed, who Selim had now worked out to be the leader of this little brigade, stepped passed him and into the middle of the room. "Well, I guess I'll introduce the gang here," he pointed to one of the kids Selim had followed here, the older one, he wasn't as tall as Jed, and he had shaggy red hair, "This is Derik," now the younger of the two, who looked nearly identical, only shorter, "Erik," here he turned to the only girl of the group, she looked like she was from Xing to Selim, which was rather surprising, "Noodles," and the last kid, he looked even younger then Selim, which was hard, Selim had gotten mistaken everywhere from six years old and up, "and Kano."

Selim nodded to each in turn. They all had their eyes on him now, probably waiting for him to do the same for them and tell his name. He could almost be certain that, if he hadn't already been on the news, he would now that he'd evaded the Elrics, so he couldn't tell them his real name.

"My name is… Pride," Selim said, trying not to sound hesitant.

"_What? How dare you use my name, take it back!" _The actual Pride barked inside his head. It was hard keeping his face straight with the angry sin's voice raging in his head, but he'd somehow managed to.

"**Too late for that now, should of spoke up sooner,**" Selim thought, and Pride made a himp sound before receding back to the recesses of his mind, or so it seemed to Selim, anyway.

"Pride huh? That's one of the more original ones I've heard, but nothing wrong with that," Jed said, an amused tone to his voice. Selim just shrugged, it actually wasn't very original, but he wasn't about to tell them that he stole the name from the voice in his head.

"So Pride, you gonna stay with us now?" The younger redhead, Erik, asked. Selim shook his head. Ed and Al would search the city for him, it would probably be best if he moved on as soon as possible. It would be a mistake to stay in the same city he'd ditched them in.

"I probably shouldn't. I need to keep moving," Erik seemed to be a bit disappointed, but Jed simply shrugged.

"So be it, but stay the night. It's dangerous for a kid like you to be out there along, ya know?" Selim nodded, after all, staying one night couldn't hurt, and these people did seem nice. "It's settled then, Noods, go show our guest one of the usable rooms," The xing girl nodded, and began walking out of the hallway without a word, apparently assuming 'Pride' would just follow.

Walking down the broken hallway in awkward silence, Selim tried not to trip over anything and keep up with this Noodle girl. She walked pretty fast for someone so short. "So," Selim started, "You're from Xing?" she just nodded, stepping over a fallen piece of ceiling. How old was this building? "Oh well, that's nice," alright, not exactly the most productive conversation in the world.

"Here is your room," Noodle said, gesturing to one of the less wrecked rooms. There wasn't any door, but a rundown bed was still inside, along with a bunch of empty and open crates.

"Oh, thank you," Selim said, before Noodle walked away without another word.

"Don't worry 'bout her, she's like that with all newcomers," Selim tried not to jump at the unexpected voice. "I'm Kano, and you're Pride, right?" Selim nodded, now a bit over his shock. "Where are you going?"

"What do you mean?" All Selim was doing was going into the room they sent him too, so what did this little kid mean?

"You said that you can't stay because you have to keep moving, so I was wondering where you were going?" Kano explained. Oh, that made sense, he did say that. Although, Selim really didn't have any idea what to tell him.

"Um, I'm not really sure yet, some place safe I guess," Selim said, sitting down on the bed gently, not exactly sure about it's stability. Kano sat down next to him, apparently not so concerned, as he did it rather bluntly, the bed creaking loudly in protest.

"It's safe here though, Jed takes care of us," the young boy said. Selim couldn't help but smile at him, he was cute, not to mention he couldn't be any older then six.

"I'm sure it is, but I still have to leave," He hoped the little boy wouldn't ask any other questions, because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to answer them honestly. Lying was one thing that Selim didn't like to do, even if he wasn't that terrible at it. He preferred to think of it as acting.

"Okay, if you say so," Kano said finally, before standing up off the bed. "If ya need anything, just call someone, okay Pride?" Selim smiled and nodded. The little boy then ran from the room, and Selim laid down slowly on the bed, still not completely trusting the old thing.

"**So, what do you think?**" Selim thought in his head. He wondered if Pride was still mad at him for borrowing his name, and hoped he wasn't. He hadn't really had many options, and his last fake name hadn't exactly been a very good one.

"_What do you mean?_" Pride's irritated voice came echoing in his mind.

"**About these kids. You know, how they're living on their own and stuff, what do you think?**" Selim asked in thought yet again. Pride was quiet for a bit, and the current controller of the body knew he was thinking it over.

"_It doesn't matter,_" Pride said finally. Selim blinked and frowned before pushing himself up on his elbows. Sure, Pride wasn't actually in front of him, but it was easier to just pretend he was.

"What do you mean?" Selim asked out loud the same question Pride had a few moments ago. He was pretty sure none of the other kids were there to hear him, and it was still a little weird to have a conversation completely in his head. If Selim could see Pride, he imagined he would of shrugged right about now.

"_It doesn't matter. They're just worthless humans like the rest of them, who cares if they live on their own?"_ Selim sighed and crossed his arms. He was tired of this whole, 'human' thing and being looked down on. Sure, Pride had said he was some three hundred year old super being, but what did that mean?

"Why do you look down on people so much? Don't you care about any of us?" the boy on the bed asked. He was really curious, and hoped Pride would give him an actual answer for once.

"_No, and it's for the simple fact that they are inferior, it's only natural,_" Pride said. Selim rolled his eyes, and wondered if he knew how much the voice in his head's name fit him right about know. A thought came into his head that made him frown a bit. Not even mother?" He could feel the slight shock from Pride. Apparently the sin hadn't thought that he'd bring her into this, and even more so he hadn't wanted him to, surprisingly. Selim let a small smile grace his lips. "So you do care about her," he said, surprised at the bit of smugness in his voice. He was spending too much time with Pride.

"_She is…intriguing, I must admit,"_ Selim just shook his head before lying back down on the dusty mattress. He really did miss his old bed. Thinking of his mother, she must be in a mad panic right about now. Once she found out he escaped the Elric brothers, she'd probably have every officer in the nation looking for him. Sighing softly, he realized that wasn't really his mother. It was Pride's, his was back home, in his world, and he'd probably never see her again.

Closing his eyes, Selim decided to take a nap. It wasn't that late at all, but he was still tired, and if he stayed up he'd probably just keep thinking about how he's never going to see his mom ever again and she probably thinks he's dead.

Opening his eyes an undetermined amount of time later, Selim saw that it was dark out. How long had he'd slept for? Still a bit sleepy, he started down the still unfamiliar hallways. Which way was it to that front room like thing again? Finally reaching it he saw Derik, or was that Erik, he couldn't remember, staring out the window.

"Um, hi?" Selim called, causing the other boy to jump slightly.

"Ah! Oh, hey, Pride right? Didn't hear you come down here," Derik/Erik said, looking out the window one last time before turning to him. Selim just nodded, trying to look behind the redhead and see what he was looking at. "Oh, there's a bunch of police out there tonight, not sure why though. I'm standing guard incase anything happens," He explained. Selim's eyes went wide, and he went passed the other boy to look out the window for himself.

"Police?" he asked, looking around in the darkness. Derik, or at least, he was pretty sure this was Derik, nodded.

"Yeah, I think they're lookin for something, no clue as to what though," Derik explained. Selim gulped and moved away from the window, the last thing he needed was for a police officer to see him and run in. "You wouldn't know, would you?" Selim turned towards the other boy and shook his head, trying to not look guilty. Derik nodded, although he didn't appear entirely convinced.

"Alright, well then, you hungry or something?" Selim nodded, and Derik threw him an apple. The two boys ate in silence for a while, Derik grabbing his own fruit soon after. "You're new at this, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Selim asked after he's swallowed the bit of apple in his mouth.

"Being on your own, you're still fresh," Derik explained, not bothering to swallow like Selim had. The black haired boy nodded. Was it really that obvious? "Don't worry, you'll get better at it. I'm not gonna question your decision to leave, so I'll just say good luck."

"Tha-" Selim stopped mid word, three loud bangs on what remained of the front door cutting him off.

"Police, open up," A voice from outside called, and Selim could feel his heart drop. Derik must of understood his panicked look, because he didn't go to the door, but just stared at Selim, a serious look on his face.

"We need to hide you, don't we?" He asked, and all Selim could do was nod and weakly say.

"Uh-huh."

Line-Line-Line-Line-Line-Line-Line

Hurrayz. Poor Selim, his situation just keeps going up and down. It's like a perpetual rollercoaster for that boy, depending on how I am feeling. I am a cruel god, that I am, but a just one. Oh, and if anybody knows where I got the name Noodle from, you are awesome. The other inspired name was Jed, although I changed it from the inspiration just slightly, so it's less recognizable, but it you can tell who it is still, you are even more awesome. Okay, reviews are love, thanks.


	12. Chapter 11

Hello everyone. Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I hate writers block, it's so hard to shake. Hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.

As for those of you who guessed who Noodle and Jed were inspired by, congratulations, someone got it. Attention2Detaille was right for Noodle, being from the band Gorrilaz, and Guardian Ruunai was correct with Jed being Jet from Avatar.

Also, people have been wondering exactly when this is all taking place, and I have to say Attention2Detaille said it best in that it is after Ed and Al have met Pride in episode 32, but before anybody really knows who he is in episode 37. So yes, GreedLing is in existence, and yes, he may make an appearance, as for when, we'll just have to wait and find out.

Chapter 11

Selim was nearly frozen until Derik stood up suddenly and motioned for him to follow, staying clear from the windows. Going through the dark, jumbled hallways the black haired boy tried not to panic. At least no one was opening the door yet, maybe the police would just go away. I mean, surely if they knew someone was living here, especially a bunch of kids, they would of taken care of them and sent them off to safe homes by now, right? He could hear Pride scoff in his head, but decided to just ignore it.

As they headed to what Selim assumed to be the basement, the two ran into Jed, and Derik began explaining the situation to him immediately.

"Police are at the door, Pride here's gotta hide for some reason or another, so I was takin him to the basement," Derik said quickly, and Jed nodded. Selim was surprised at how no one seemed to question him, but figured they were most likely going to wait until after the police had left and the immediate danger (Selim never thought he'd be thinking of the police as danger) had passed.

"Right, you take him and hide him, I'll go make sure everybody else's okay," Jed said before disappearing down the corridor. Without wasting another second Derik led him into the basement.

It was extremely dark, Selim could barely see a foot in front of him, and littered with all sorts of useless junk. He knew he was already covered in cuts and soon bruises by the time they managed to work their way to the far corner of the room. Derik pushed a few objects, Selim couldn't see what, out of the way, before motioning for him to sit.

Selim could see him grab something off the top of a pile (was it an old curtain?) and turn back towards him. "I'm gonna put this and a few pieces of cardboard or something on you so that the police'll see nothing if they do end up comin down here, so just hand tight until one o' us come and get ya," Selim managed to nod before the fabric was draped on top of him, followed by a few random, and thankfully light, objects.

Waiting until the sound of Derik stumbling out of the darkness finally stopped, Selim sighed. Stuck in another dark, enclosed place, worrying about getting caught. It was getting old pretty fast.

"_You could just turn yourself in,_" Pride's voice ran though him head. Selim started shaking him head, but had to stop when he felt the things on top of him begin to move.

"I already told you I can't do that, you might be fine with having me exercised by those strange mole people, but I'm not going to die again," Selim whispered. Pride didn't answer, and Selim sighed again. No, he wasn't going home. It wasn't his home anyway. His home was on fire somewhere far away. Well, he supposed it wasn't on fire anymore, seeing at it'd been several days since he left, but that didn't really matter to him all that much right now. He did feel bad about keeping Pride away from his home though.

"_I'm not a simple minded child like you, I can stand being away for a few days,_" Selim didn't say anything. He knew Pride would deny anything he said anyway, although he couldn't help but wonder what his mother was doing, or well, Pride's mother, to be exact.

-A few days earlier-

Mrs. Bradley wondered around her mansion of a house. It was almost eleven now and she couldn't find her son anywhere. She hadn't seen him since dinner, actually, and with his recent behavior, she was beginning to get extremely worried. Her husband would be home soon, and hopefully he could help some. She had actually just reached his study, one of the last places she had left to search.

Standing in the middle of the room, she saw nothing seemed to be out of place. Sighing, the woman crossed her arms. Not here either. True, Selim tended to disappear quite a bit, but she had a bad feeling this time. Call it a mother's intuition.

When she turned to leave the room she saw her husband standing in the doorway, and apparently her worry was obvious, or something else had happened to Mr. Bradley at work. His usually care free expression was replaced with one of concern.

"Dear, I can't find Selim anywhere, I haven't seen him since dinner," the worried mother explained. His frown deepened, but he didn't look overly concerned.

"Have you checked his room?" he asked, and Larissa had to resist rolling her eyes. Of course she had checked his room, that was the first place she looked. She had to quickly remind herself though, that this was her husband she was dealing with, and knowing him he would forget to check his son's room.

"Yes, he's not there, or anywhere else in the house," She explained again, and could feel her husbands concern growing, although he didn't say anything. "It's getting late, where could he have gone? He's been acting so strange lately, I'm worried,"

"I'm sure he's fine dear, he's probably just holed himself up somewhere and fallen asleep," King Bradley said confidently. Larissa nodded absentmindedly, a frown on her face. She supposed that was possible, but she couldn't help but feel it was something much more serious. "You go get some sleep, I'm positive he'll turn up in the morning."

"Alright King, but if he doesn't turn up in the morning I want something done," She said decisively, and King nodded.

"Of course, I wouldn't want him wondering around by himself anymore then you would," He said as he followed her off to bed.

He didn't show up in the morning, or the rest of that day for that matter. They'd questioned all the guard but no one had seen anyone suspicious entering or leaving the building, or even more simply Selim himself leaving. King kept saying he would be alright, but that didn't help her nerves much at all. Especially since he seemed just as worried as she was.

Her husband had a special squad of people looking for him, but they hadn't sent anything public just yet. If it was a kidnapper, then the ransom would most likely come soon, and that's when they would get the police involved. If it wasn't a kidnapper, then their was no need to get the public in a panic. At least, not yet anyway.

She couldn't sleep that night. They had people searching everywhere, but so far their was no leads on her son what so ever. She wanted to be out there looking, and she wanted to be the one to find him, not some stranger. What if he was scared, or alone, or hurt. No, she definitely couldn't sleep with all the thoughts running through her head. She didn't very well want to either, she had a feeling that her dreams wouldn't be the most pleasant ones she'd ever had, if she did.

When she received a call the next day saying the Elric brothers had found her son as far away as Resembool, she nearly fainted. When she asked how he'd gotten all the way out there, if he was alright, had he been kidnapped, and many, many other things the only answer she got was that her son had run away, sneaked onto a train, and wouldn't tell anybody why.

Of course, she was extremely relieved to find out he was all right and in the custody of someone she felt she could trust, but she was still unspeakably bothered. Selim was a good boy, he wouldn't of ran off like this just to get attention. There was a reason as to why he had left, and that was reinforced for her by the fact that he wouldn't tell anyone why. Something had been wrong with him since he had gotten sick in class, and as soon as he came home she was going to find out what.

"They _what!_" Mrs. Bradley yelled at the messenger in front of her. Not many people had the privilege of seeing it, but she had quite a temper. Her husband had said that was actually one of the things that had drawn him to her. Apparently he had overheard her telling off an incompetent worker at her old job at a clothing store, and he'd been infatuated ever since.

The poor man cowering before her didn't seem to enjoy her temper nearly as much, as he nodded feebly and began to explain again. "T-the Elric brothers l-lost master Selim in the G-gradford T-train station, ma'am," Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Bradley nodded, and waved the poor, scared man away.

Now, she wasn't mad at the Elrics, she knew they wouldn't of lost her son on purpose. No, no, she doubt he was kidnapped either. They hadn't let out that Selim had been missing to the public yet, so no one would of known it was him in that train station.

Her son had run away again. She had no doubt he was smart enough to do so. Chances are the brother's guards would of been down when only watching after a small child, and he would of used that to his advantage.

No, she wasn't mad at the Elrics, but at herself. As his mother, she should of known what was bothering him before it came to this. Sitting down on the closest chair she could find, she just collapsed. Sighing, she tried to look on the bright side. They knew where he was now, it was only a matter of time before the police found him and brought her son home. Or at least, that's what she hoped.

* * *

Well, there you have it. I feel bad for the short chapter after such a long wait, but I do hope you like it. We got to see what Mrs. Bradley was doing all this time. I have to say I've always felt bad for this woman. I mean, her ending in the manga has a bit of happiness in it, but if you think about what she had to go through at end of the 2003 anime, then damn. I never really thought about it until I saw then end of the manga, but it's really bad for the poor lady in that one. I mean, really bad. Well, please review.


	13. Chapter 12

Hello. Hurray for this chapter coming so much sooner then the last one. Hopefully this one will be a bit more exciting as well.

"_Pride talking to Selim"_

"**Selim talking to Pride"**

Disclaimer- Don't own FMA

Chapter 12

Selim wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting under the curtain in the dark. He knew it wasn't as long as it seemed to be, but boy did it seem to take forever. So far he hadn't heard any commotion from upstairs, so he guessed that was a good thing. The fear of being found was soon replaced with boredom, and wishing that one of the other children would come down and tell him that the coast was clear. He contemplated talking to Pride to pass the time, but so far they hadn't had much in common to actually talk about.

When he had heard the door open, Selim had assumed it was one of the kids coming to tell him he could come out now, and almost lifted the makeshift blanket away. When a voice broke through the darkness that was most certainly not one of the children upstairs, Selim froze in fear before he could, which, in retrospect, was a very good thing.

"Darker then night down here, someone pass me a flashlight," Whoever it was didn't sound that old, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties, but the boy cowering under the dusty old curtain didn't rightfully care. The only thing going through his mind was that the police were this close to catching him, and wondering what had happened to the others up stairs.

"_Quite a predicament you're in, isn't it?_" Pride asked, a slight mocking tone to his voice. Selim didn't say anything, instead trying to concentrate on the situation at hand. If the police found him, he didn't know what would happen. He'd be taken home, and then expelled or something. He wasn't sure what, but he was almost positive it would result in a death a bit more permanent then his previous one.

"_You just wont give up will you? Humans are so persistent like that,"_ It took everything he had to ignore that smug voice at the back of his conscious. It was essentially the same as his, well, some time it had this metallic like ring to it, but other then that they were nearly identical. Pride never really sounded like him though. His voice was always filled with so much, well, pride. And confidence, and power. Never weak and humble and timid like his. Why couldn't he have that same strength? That power?

There were two people wondering around the basement, from what Selim could hear, and one was coming dangerously close to his hiding place. He held his breath as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer to him, and he could see the light of the flashlight through the fabric.

"Hey, Jackson…" They were right in front of him, and it was obvious he'd been spotted. Squeezing his eyes shut, he knew it was no use. He heard the one, Jackson, apparently, stumbling over to his partner, and suddenly it was only a matter of time.

"_Sorry about your little escapade being cut short,"_ Selim could tell from his voice, Pride was enjoying this. He knew he was about to be taken home where he could get rid of Selim for good and continue on with whatever those underground people were doing, and never think of this ever again. Squeezing his eyes even tighter, the black haired boy tried desperately to think of a plan, something, anything. He'd died once and hadn't been able to fight back, he wasn't going to let it happen again. If only he was strong, powerful, like Pride obviously was.

When the curtain and boxes were pulled off of him, Selim didn't dare to look up, or even open his eyes. There was nothing for him to do now.

"Hey there little guy, no need to be afraid," This came from the first man he'd heard. He could tell that he was being sincere, but Selim was too upset. There was reason to be afraid, but it wasn't like this nameless stranger knew that. No one really knew but Pride, who was but a voice in his head at the moment. Not even the mole people really knew what was going on.

When he opened his eyes, it wasn't that he had really saw anything strange, but felt it. The surge of energy, unexpected and completely foreign, almost made him miss the shocked and almost disturbed look on the two men's faces.

"Ah…ahh…" it wasn't so much a scream as it was a frightened squeak. Before he could even fully register what was going on, the two men were running for what seemed to be their lives, screaming about…something. Demons? Seriously? Selim was frozen in place from the shock, not sure in the least what had just happened.

Finally, although really he had no idea how long it'd been, he turned around to see what had made two grown men drop everything they had and run away screaming like little kids. No way on earth it was him, so what was it?

"Ah…ahh…" no, it definitely wasn't him, but rather the huge shadow demon crawling along the wall behind him. Huge, red violet eyes stared down at him, and what he registered as mouths filled with lines of large, sharp white teeth frowned on the wall. He didn't even have time to cry out before his mind decided that the best way to deal with this shock was to simply turn off. Lying on the ground next to the flashlight the policemen had dropped in their shock, Selim didn't see the 'shadow demon' recede from the wall until it became nothing more then his own, normal shadow in the sharp, out of place light.

When he awoke, he was once again on the rickety bed in his makeshift bedroom. Hope flared in him that perhaps all that had happened was simply a dream, but that hope was quickly cut short when he saw all of the orphans scattered throughout the room, looking at him expectantly.

"First off, you alright?" Jed asked, leaning agents the wall directly in front of Selim, arms crossed, "We found you passed out in the basement, after those police men had run from the house screamin' about demon," The boy on the bed frowned. It really had happened, that crazy shadow demon. Nodding his head, he tried to calm himself.

"Yes, I'm fine," He wasn't really sure if that was a lie or not. Physically, he felt fine, and those two men had seen the demon too, so, if you didn't count the voice in his head, he was alright mentally too, but right now he was just so confused. Right now, he just wanted to be alone so that he could talk to Pride and figure out what had happened, not explain things he wasn't even sure about to a bunch of kids he was going to leave in the morning anyway. He was too placid to tell them all to get out so he could talk to the voice in his head though, so instead he simply waited for the next question.

"That's good, but do you have any idea what they meant by demon? Was it something you did?" That shocked Selim a bit. He thought they were going to ask why the police was after him first, but decided they were just getting the easy questions out of the way, and then they'd deal with the harder stuff.

"No, I…when they took the curtain off of me, they just kind of started to scream, I don't even remember passing out," He didn't think they'd believe him if he said there was some creepy shadow demon that had apparently saved him, and he didn't feel like trying to convince them either.

"Why were the police after you?" Ah, there it was. Only, it wasn't Jed who'd asked that, but Kano. The child had obviously been asleep not too long ago, but looked like he was going to explode from all the excitement. It was clear that everyone else was wondering the same thing, only had a bit more tact then a six year old and hadn't asked outright. They, unlike Selim, were glad he did though, and were waiting for his answer.

"I… I ran away, from home… and well, I guess they were searching for me…" Looking up from the blanket, he saw Jed nodding, like he'd thought so all along. He probably had, apparently it was obvious he was new at this, after all. Pushing himself off the wall, Jed started out of the room.

"Well, you said you're leaving in the morning right? Probably should get some rest then. C'mon everyone, leave the Pride be," The others trailed out behind their leader, and Selim wasn't sure if he should say something, or just stay silent. The way Jed had said his alias made it clear that he knew it was just that, an alias. No one asked any questions though, so Selim didn't say anything to prompt them to.

Once they were gone Selim laid back down onto the dusty bed. He wasn't really tired, he'd just woke up, and he was hungry, but that could wait. He had to talk to Pride, now. "**Pride, you there?**"

"_No, I left three hours ago. What do you think?_" The childlike voice asked sarcastically. Selim ignored his comments and decided to just get straight to the point. Pride didn't seem to like beating around the bush much anyway.

"**What was that thing? In the basement,**" He knew Pride knew. He was a three hundred year old super being, he had to.

"_Apparently, you somehow managed to figure out how to use this container, and, I guess you could say, activated my powers, in simplest terms,_" Pride explained. Selim blinked, a look of surprise on his face. He'd done that? Was that the energy he'd felt, when he had opened his eyes? Pride sighed, sounding like someone having to explain the same thing to a child over and over again. "_Yes, that was you." _Frowning, Selim sat up.

"Think I can do it again?" He asked, out loud this time. He didn't wait for an answer before trying to think back to what had happened right before he'd apparently summoned that shadow demon. He'd been scared, and angry. He didn't want to die.

Opening his eyes, and wondering just when he had closed them in the first place, the black haired boy saw that the shadows spread around him were too black to be natural, and leaked away from him and off of the bed like water, and ended in tiny, black hands. While extremely creepy and slightly scared, Selim couldn't help but smile.

This was just what he needed. Some type of upper hand, a way to know he could defend himself in the world. A thought suddenly occurred to the boy though, and the smile was wiped off his face. This power, it was like that man's in the underground room. What had his name been again? That's right, Envy. There was Envy, who had turned his arm into that terrifying blade, and his father, who had been referred to as Wrath if he was not mistaken. And Pride, who now apparently had this strange, shadow tentacle power.

Pride, Wrath, and Envy. Selim, despite being a child, wasn't a fool enough not to realize that these were part of a set. Crazy people with special powers and strange nicknames, he knew it could only be very good or very bad. Super heroes or villains. Something told him from the way they acted, they way Envy had threatened him like it was nothing, that it was very bad. He was nearly scowling by now, an expression that he didn't think he'd ever made before.

"Pride, what are you guys planning?" he asked. He could feel the arrogance inside of him, from wherever Pride was being stored.

"_You've asked that so many times already. I've already said I'm not telling a pathetic human,"_ Before Selim had the chance to ask anything else, the door to his room opened softly, and Kano peaked his head in.

"Pride?" It felt even weirder now being called that, but Selim just ignored it and nodded. "Goodnight," Blinking, Selim had not expected that. Smiling at the child, he nodded once more.

"Thanks, goodnight," he said, in his normal, polite and humble voice. Kano then ducked his head out quickly without a word, and Selim stared at the door until the child's footsteps had finally subsided.

Sighing, he laid back down onto the bed. He didn't try to call up Pride again, something told him that the strange voice wouldn't answer. Closing his eyes, he tried to catch some sleep. There wasn't anything he could do about those strange people underground, especially right now. He just had to focus on himself, and right now, he needed sleep.

No matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come

* * *

Well, Selim's finally gained control of Pride's shadow tentacle thingys. And things are starting to pick up. I hope this chapter wasn't as disappointing as the last one, although I did like writing as Mrs. Bradley. Well, please review.

Oh, and by the way, the reason I have Selim call Father and the homunculus mole people is because, when trying to explain things to my little brother about FMA, because he hasn't really watched the whole thing, and keeps getting brotherhood and the 2003 anime mixed up. He keeps calling them mole people, and I thought it was funny, and a cute nickname for Selim to give the homunculus.


	14. Chapter 13

Hi there. School's coming soon, so I'll have less writing time, but I shall try to keep up a reasonable pace. Once a week sound good? Well, it's not here quite yet, so enough talk, and let's get on with the story.

"_Pride talking"_

"**Selim talking to Pride in his head"**

Chapter 13

When morning finally came, Selim slipped out of bed as silently as he could. He was hoping to get out without running into any of the other kids. He knew they were just trying to help, for who knows what reason, but he was too confused right now to deal with any people. He hadn't slept at all last night, instead trying to figure out what he should be doing next. He had these crazy powers and there was a group of people probably trying to destroy the world or something. This would probably be most nine year old boys dream, but right not it felt more like a living nightmare.

"Heading out?" Selim almost jumped at the surprise. Jed was leaning agents the doorway to the outside world. He didn't see any of the other orphans around, so he assumed that Jed must have been the first one up. It didn't surprise him, he seemed like that kind of guy. Figuring no way to get out without being noticed now, the black haired boy nodded.

Jed didn't seem surprised either, and moved away from the door. Selim took this as an invitation to leave, so decided to take it before anyone got any second thoughts.

"There's a town west of here, you could make it on foot. It's not too big, but not so small that you couldn't hide. Good luck," Selim stopped in his tracks and looked back at the makeshift leader. He wondered how he ended up in this situation, looking after a group of homeless kids. Jed was probably wondering the same thing about him though too, and if he ever told him, the older boy wouldn't believe a word. Selim didn't blame him, he didn't believe it much either.

"Thanks," the black haired boy said, before turning back towards the door. Now he had a direction, and he could work from there.

"Ya know," Selim turned around at the voice. He though the dirty teen had said everything he'd wanted to. Apparently now. "The name Pride really doesn't suit you." Selim smiled, something that was becoming rarer and rarer with each passing day.

"I know," He wasn't sure what else to say. He was never a very social person, and didn't want to sound like an idiot and say something stupid. He decided to just leave it at that, and left the crumbling brick building finally behind him.

The streets were just beginning to fill which people trying to get a head start on the day. It was surprisingly easy for the young boy to slip out of town going down the edges of back alleys and side streets. That was the easy part. The hard part was when he was finally at the edge of town, a single street leading west for who knows how long.

"Now what?" He wasn't sure just who he was talking to, there wasn't anybody with him, except Pride, but he was trusting the voice less and less.

"_You could start walking,_" Selim nodded and did as told. Yes, he didn't trust him, but he didn't really have any other options. Walking along the road, Selim kept to the side, and would attempt to find a hiding place or anything to keep from sight when ever a car would pass. Who knows what those two police officers had said after they ran off. Maybe they didn't know it was him, or didn't say anything because they didn't want to tell people they ran away from a monster. He hoped it was something like that.

He had no idea how long he'd been walking when he spotted a turned over log on the side of the rode and stopped to rest. The sun was high up in the sky now, it had to be around noon. Hunger was once again setting in, and he still had no idea how much longer it was until the next town. Jed had said he could walk there, but who knows how long walking distance was to the teen.

The one thing on top of all this was the boredom. He was walking along an old road, with no one to talk to but someone he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. He still had no idea what to do about the mole people, and everything was just so confusing. If Pride would stop being such a jerk and tell him what they were planning, he might be able to actually figure something out.

"_You think calling me names will make me tell you anything?_" Pride asked, his voice echoing around. Selim shook his head and sighed.

"**No, but please Pride, what's going on?**" Selim asked in his head, using their little mind link thingy. Yeah, that was an okay name for it. It wasn't completely accurate, but it was better then nothing. Although nothing wasn't that bad either, seeing as he didn't really have anyone to explain it to, except for himself and the voice in his head.

"_Once again, I'll ask you. Why would I tell a pathetic human such as you?_" Selim didn't move from the log. There wasn't any reason for Pride to tell him, especially if it was something bad, which it probably was. Who knows, he might even try and stop the mole people, and then what would Pride do? No, the actual owner of this body shouldn't tell him anything, but that didn't mean Selim wanted him to any less.

"**Pride?**" Selim asked, knowing the voice probably heard his previous thoughts, so there really was no need to answer his question a second time.

"_Hmm?_" He sounded almost bored. Selim suddenly wasn't sure if he wanted to confide in the ancient voice, but he didn't have anyone else.

"I'm scared," He'd said it out loud, and it was barely a whisper. He knew Pride heard it though, he could almost feel the voice stiffen up. Apparently he was as used to people confiding in his as Selim thought he would be.

"_What do you want me to do about that?_" He asked finally, and Selim just shook his head before standing up off the log. He knew Pride would respond like that, and it didn't really bother him that much. At least there was something constant left in his life.

"Nothing," The black haired boy said before starting back down the old road again.

It was almost sundown when Selim finally managed to reach the outskirts of the town Jed had described. It was just as he had said, too. Pretty small, but not so much so that he couldn't hide, like Resembool. Walking with his head down, he tried to think of a way to find a place to stay, and some food.

His last attempt at stealing food, although it had ended well, could of gone south much, much too easily. He hadn't eaten before he left the orphans though, and while he was becoming slightly more used to the hunger, he still couldn't just go without eating. Maybe he could hide in the long shadows of the food stands?

The shadows! He couldn't use them for hiding, but maybe they could bring the food straight to him. A smile on his face, Selim sat behind the wall of an alleyway and concentrated on the long, dark shadow leading from the cart into the alley. Just as he hoped, the shadow turned an unnatural black, and he willed the little hand on the end to grab one of the fruits closest to the back. Sliding along he ground, Selim grabbed it quickly when it finally reached him, as if afraid the shadow would keep tugging it along out of his reach.

Well, that was definitely easier then having to actually go up to the cart and take the food away himself. He quickly consumed his prize, the edge of his hunger taken off just a bit.

Standing up, now he just had to find a place to stay for the night. He considered asking Pride if he knew any places, but quickly dismissed that thought, as any place Pride took him could easily be a trap for the mole people to find him. No, he'd just find a place by himself, just like how he'd gotten the food. Sure, technically he'd used Pride's powers, but that was beside the point.

Walking around absently looking for a place to sleep, Selim wondered what the name of this town was. He wasn't really sure what to do in the morning either. He should probably leave town again. Maybe he could go to Dublith like he had said. It was a big town, he could probably hide there for a while. Or maybe he could leave the country all together. Xing seemed like a nice place, and he had black hair, so he wouldn't stick out as terribly as if he was a blonde. To get to Xing though he'd have to cross that huge dessert, and he didn't really feel like almost dieing.

That settled it then. He'd find out where in the world he was, and then find the quickest route to Dublith, and hide out there for a while. He still had the problem as to where to stay for tonight though. The black haired bout wished that abandoned buildings were as common in real life as adventure and runaway stories said they were. And not full of scary people

He couldn't help but wonder if this was the body of a super-being with magical powers why he still got so hungry and so tired all the time. Guess Pride's not that different after all. That didn't really surprise him that much though, because as much as the voice tried to sound threatening and so much better then everyone else, like his name suggested, he didn't really scare Selim all that much. Sure, he could be a bit mean, and the black haired boy could get a bit jealous of how confident and sure of himself the other boy was, he wasn't really evil. At least, he hoped he wasn't.

Finally, well passed dark and starting to get worried and scared for his safety, (Pride found this rather amusing, there was enough light to create shadows, so what could a random mugger or rapist do agents that?) Selim reached a park in the center of the town.

Looking around for anyone else and happily seeing no one, the black haired boy walked up to the set of large things for kids to play on. Finding a tube thing, he guessed kids were suppose to crawl through it, Selim crawled inside. At least he was protected and hidden now. He still didn't feel safe, but it was better then nothing. He hadn't expected to be able to fall asleep inside of a cold metal tube, but just like on the bumpy and loud train cart, exhaustion had a way of surprising him.

* * *

Not much happened in this one, but don't worry, I have something planned. I hope everybody is enjoying this so far, and I also hope that the next chapter wont take too long to come out. It probably wont be until after the 31st, because of school, but I'm glad I was able to get one more chapter in before I had to completely devote myself.

Well, please review. They let me know I'm doing this right.


	15. Chapter 14

I love long weekends. I actually have time to write. Except my parents keep dragging me out of the house, and when I get back I'm too tired to do anything. Ah well, writing now I am.

"_Pride talking"_

"**Selim talking to Pride"**

Chapter 14

Selim awoke and quickly tried to shake the disorientation away. It was hard getting used to waking up in strange places all the time. Yawning, he tried to sit up without hitting his head on the top of the tube. Well, that failed. Rubbing the sore spot, the black haired boy decided to crawl out of the tube, and just sit on top. There wasn't anyway he could hit his head on the sky.

Looking around, there wasn't anybody in the park yet. The sun had just barely risen. That was kind of strange, he didn't usually wake up this early. Maybe Pride did though, and it was rubbing off on him or something. Staring at nothing, Selim tried to think of what to do next. His destination was Dublith, right?

"Hey there, kiddo," Selim's head spun around to see who had spoken. It wasn't someone he'd ever seen before. He was tall, and wearing all black. His hair was long and in a pony tail, and he looked like he was from Xing. Something about him didn't seem right though, and he jumped off the tube to face him quickly.

"_Finally,_" Selim frowned when he hear that. Did that mean this was one of the mole people, he just hadn't met yet?

"**What do you me…**" The thought trailed off when he spotted the tattoo on the tall man's hand. It was that same weird dragon thingy that he saw on the guy who turned his arm into a blade, Envy. There was something about this guy that kind of reminded him of Envy too. Maybe it was the slightly less then sane smile? It wasn't as bad as the blade wielding maniac's, but that didn't mean he was going to trust this guy anymore because of that.

"Who're you?" Selim asked, trying to sound braver then he actually was. The Xing man frowned at his question, kind of like he'd been expecting it, but was hoping it didn't happen.

"What's the matter? Don't recognize your own little brother?" He asked, a teasing sound to his voice. The child was barely able to shake his head, his mind consumed with both the confusion as to how this guy, who was much older then him, would possibly be able to refer to him as the older brother, and the fact that his teeth looked much sharper then a normal person's. The pony tailed man simply shrugged, apparently deciding that whatever was going on wasn't worth going to far into. "Ah well, doesn't matter, let's just get you back so that pops can fix whatever's wrong with your head."

Selim took a few tentative steps back. He wasn't sure who this guy was referring to when he said 'Pops' probably the same person Pride called Father, but either way it was also probably not a good thing.

"I-I'm not g-going back," the young boy stuttered, mentally chastising himself for that, and also wondering exactly who this guy was. He was obviously one of them, but other then that he knew nothing.

"_If you_ _must know, that's Greed,_" Pride said, giving Selim an answer to at least one of his questions, but he was pretty sure that was all he was getting. It didn't seem to matter how far back he went, Greed was closing the distance rather quickly, looking amused at the child's small attempt at resistance.

"Look Pride, relax a bit, we're just gonna get you back to your normal, pompous and creepy self, so c'mon" The Xing man reached towards him, but Selim just kept shaking his head and stepping back.

"No… I'm not Pride!" Selim yelled, sending a black shadow shooting towards Greed more out of instinct then anything before he was able to touch him. The older man jumped out of the way with ease, although a look of surprise remained on his face. He could feel Pride's annoyance with his continued resistance, and heard him scoff in his head.

"_The hell you're not,_" Pride mumbled, but the voice didn't say anything else, and Selim figured he should be insulted, but wasn't really. After all, Pride was agreeing with him, so why would he be mad?

Greed was standing a few feet away from him now, and was looking a mixture of anger, annoyance and confusion. "Well, if it's gonna be like that," He said, bringing his hands up in front of him and getting into a fighting stance. Selim started looking the pony tailed man over, both Pride and that Envy guy had some sort of weird power, this guy probably did too.

Just as he had expected, something about the man in front of him began to change. His hands turned a shade of dark blue, the tips now pointed like claws. The child willed a few more shadows around himself. He probably couldn't beat this Greed guy, not by a long shot, he couldn't fight. Maybe though, he could hold him off until he thought of some kind of escape plan, or people started coming to the park and screaming about two super beings fighting each other.

Almost before he could register, Greed was running towards him. He brought the shadows up in front of him as a kind of shield at nearly the last second, Greed's hand scratching across it. The man was almost instantly at his side, and he again made another last minute shield. He knew he had to do something other then defense, but he didn't know what exactly to do or how. He'd never fought a day in his life. Stupid sheltered childhood!

Selim quickly shot a few tendrils haphazardly towards his attacker, who easily dodged the inexperienced attack. At least it got him a bit farther away, so that he could have a bit more breathing and thinking room.

That didn't last very long though, as he was once again right up next to him, with nothing but a wall of shadows between them. Selim once again shot the unnatural shadows toward him, but once again he only dodged and was back in his place in a manner of seconds.

The black haired boy was just beginning to panic now. This guy was obviously strong, and skilled, and just knew what he was doing and Selim… well, he wasn't and didn't. Pride wasn't going help him. Pride was basically the enemy at this point, in terms of personal goals.

"C'mon, just give it up already. You aren't going to win this time. Whatever's racked your brain's messed with your skill like hell," Greed taunted. Selim shook his head though. He wasn't going to give up without a fight, not this time. Greed simply shrugged in response. "Suit yourself," and with that, lunged towards the child again.

Finally what seemed after five hundred tried Selim managed to ensnare one of his attackers hands in his shadows. He literally had to keep himself from jumping in celebration. Greed seemed much less enthused, and quickly tried to free himself from the dark grip, but didn't seem to be able to cut through the shadow. Apparently whatever that blue stuff was the coated his hands was strong enough to deflect the shadows, just not cut them.

Before the Xing man could find a way to actually get out, Selim quickly sent out several other tendrils to wrap around his arms and legs, binding them. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he took a few careful steps toward the trapped man. He actually did it, he won! How did that just happen?

"_You lucky little… I can't believe a mere child like you was able to defeat Greed,_" Pride's growl echoed through his head. Selim's smile widened a bit more, he was just as astonished as the annoyed three hundred year old super being, maybe ever more so.

"**I did have your super cool shadow powers helping me**," The child suggested helpfully. Selim could almost feel the eye roll before turning his attention to his prisoner.

"Um, sorry I had to tie you up, but do you think you could answer a few questions?" Selim asked politely. Now it wasn't so much an eye roll he felt but a face palm. Greed appeared more surprised then anything, although he quickly regained his nonchalant look.

"Alright, who the hell are you and what did you do with the real Pride?" the ensnared man asked. Selim knew that the sin named man was halfway joking, but decided it would be best to just answer anyway.

"Selim Bradley, and Pride's stuck in my head. He still talks to me, so he's okay, but I kind of took control of his body for the time being," Selim explained, and he could tell that was probably not what Greed was expecting.

"Wait… what?" The Xing man asked, blinking a few times. The black haired boy was somewhat expecting that. It probably sounded absolutely insane even to these people who were crazy to probably almost every single person in the world. Probably, at least.

"Um, I'm Selim Bradley. You're Greed right?" Selim asked. He was starting to get a bit worried. What if people started showing up. It was still extremely early, but you never know. Plus, he had no idea what to do with Greed now. If he let him go, then he would just start attacking him, right?

"Yeah, I'm Greed…" The still very confused man answered. The black haired child nodded slightly. Maybe he could get some answers from Greed that he couldn't seem to pry from Pride.

"Um, okay, what are you people planning?" Again, he was met with a befuddled look from the pony tailed man.

"You're seriously not Pride? How'd you manage to get the freak in there, kid?" He asked, ignoring Selim's question. The child wasn't sure if he should answer him or not. He still wasn't really certain of the answer himself, but if he explained it to this guy, maybe he'd know something.

"No, I'm not Pride. I… I'm not sure how this happened… I had died, back home, and I ended up in this place, and this white figure person told me I could live, and when I woke up I was in Pride's body," Selim explained. Sure he still didn't actually trust Greed in the least, but there was something about him that made him give the Xing man a chance. A bit like Pride, actually, and the exact opposite of Envy and his father. Although his father might just be from left over fear, while everyone else was more of just gut feelings. Probably not the best thing to rely on, but it was all he had.

"Well… that's an interesting story kid," Greed said finally. Selim sighed and shook his head. He didn't seem to know anything, so he had to get back on track.

"Um, okay, what are you and the people underground planning?" he tried for a second time. He hoped that this man wouldn't be as stubborn as Pride was, but from the half attempt at a shrug through his bindings, he probably wasn't going to get much farther.

"Well, I don't know everything that's going on really. I'm pretty young, you see. I just follow orders," he explained. Selim frowned slightly, but Greed saw this and sent him what the boy guessed was a charismatic smile. "You don't have to worry, I never lie, you see. That kind of stuff is for petty thieves and crooks, which ain't me," The child nodded. For some reason or another, he believed him.

"Is there anything you can tell me? At all?" He should probably be a bit more demanding, but that just wasn't who he was.

"Well, not really, but I can tell you that we're called Homunculus. At least now you can put a name to 'us people.' So that it, or is there anything else you want?" Greed answered. The black haired boy sighed. That wasn't much, but he was pretty sure he'd heard that word before somewhere in an alchemy book or something, so at least he had a starting point, no matter how small. Selim turned his attention to the Xing man's question. Anything else he wanted? There was only one thing, really.

"I just… I just don't want to die again," Truthfully, that was all he wanted. Yes, going home, seeing mother again and actually having a normal life, he wished he could have that too, but he knew he was just lucky to have survived this long. Right now, living was his first priority. Everything else was second.

When he looked up, Greed was staring back at him in an almost understanding way. This time it was his turn to look confused when the pony tailed man sighed.

"Don't we all, kid."

* * *

And enter GreedLing! And a bit of action. I don't think I've wrote a fight scene since 2008, so hopefully it wasn't completely terrible. I hope I've gotten out of the rut I've been stuck in for the past few chapters too. They weren't very good, but I think it's starting to pick up a bit now.

Well, please review and tell me if you agree, disagree, think Envy should change his name to SlenderMan, the works.


	16. Chapter 15

It's alive! I am so very sorry for not updating in almost a month. If you went on my profile you saw that it was from technical difficulties with my laptop, not laziness. I would never be that lazy for my loyal readers. The happiness high I get when people compliment me wouldn't allow it. (is a bit of a prideful person myself, sadly) It's finally fixed though, which means everything can continue to run smoothly again. Hopefully. (Cross fingers)

Disclaimer- No, I haven't been executing a massive takeover plan on the full metal alchemist franchise in the past month, so still nothing.

Chapter 15

Selim stared up at the tall man in front of him. The sun was slowly rising higher and higher, but he was still wrapped in the black bindings and the boy wasn't quite sure where to go from here. Greed would still struggle occasionally, but Selim was making sure the shadows wouldn't come undone. He wasn't losing his victory yet.

"Um, I'm sorry," he said, and commanded the shadowy tentacles to lift his captive off the ground. It wasn't that hard controlling the shadows, just very, very strange. Like he had a million arms he could stretch to any size he wanted. He didn't dare open the eyes or mouths. The one time he had, things had gotten rather disoriented very quickly. How did Pride deal with that?

"Whoa, hey! What do ya think you're doing?" Greed exclaimed, his attempts at freedom getting a bit more forceful.

"People will be here soon. It'll be bad if they see the shadows, right? And I can't just let you go, you'll try to take me again," Selim explained, looking around for a place to hide. There wasn't many though, and he eventually just ended up walking a ways into the woods in the park. It wasn't very permeate or even really good, but it would work for now.

"So, how long do you plan to keep me captive kiddo?" the Xing man asked, not sounding overly worried. Selim didn't blame him, he wasn't the most intimidating person. This Greed guy had probably been through a lot worse.

"Until I can figure out what's going on… and when I can let you go without you attacking me again…" He answered, sitting down on the grass.

"Why don't you tell me what's going on first. You say Pride's stuck in your head, talking to you?" Selim nodded. Hey, if they were talking, something might actually happen, and that was good enough for him. "okay…weird. What's he like… saying?" The tall man asked, neither quite getting the irony of his statement.

"Um, well," the boy began, and hoped slightly that Pride would say something, and luckily, or not, he wasn't disappointed.

"_Tell Greed he better stop making small talk and get me back to father's this instant, I don't have time for either of your games!"_ The echo like voice demanded, and then added, "_Also, tell him he has no right to be calling this weird, I've heard him talking to the Xing prince." _Selim didn't quite understand that last part, actually, he didn't understand it at all, but nodded none the less.

"Well, he just said to stop making small talk and take him back to father, and he said that you shouldn't say it's weird because he's heard you talking to some prince? I don't know what he meant by that, but I'll just guess you do," The black haired boy translated, and Greed chuckled slightly.

"Oh yeah, it is a bit similar, I suppose, and don't worry about it kid, has nothing to do with you," Greed said, not going into much detail at all, but Selim decided not to push it. If it was similar to his situation, it was probably extremely complicated.

Selim could just begin to hear the noises of the waking city, and was glad that he decided to move his prisoner when he had. Only now he was stuck, There would be no moving until he was able to get rid of Greed somehow, but he couldn't think of anything that would be able to distract the man long enough.

"Stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh kid?" the Xing man asked, seeming to almost read his thoughts. It didn't surprise him that much, besides being used to someone doing that now with Pride and everything, he'd always been a bit of an open book. He just nodded, still trying to think of some sort of solution.

He couldn't though. It was too hard. If he let Greed go, then he would be captured, but he couldn't move around with Greed here, but if he stayed in one place too long, he'd be found and captured. Maybe it was just luck that he'd gotten this far. He was probably bound to be captured eventually. No one can run forever.

"_Thank you for finally facing reality. Now either let Greed free and go back to Father without anymore struggle, or better yet, return control of my body. All you humans are bound to die sooner or later anyway," _Pride's voice echoed in his head.

A frown set onto his face at those words. If the ancient being in his head had stayed quiet, or on a second though, if he'd just held back that last sentence, he might of gotten his wish. For some reason though, those words lit a fire in him he almost didn't recognize at first. Standing up off the ground, he started over to the man ensnared in shadows. He wasn't going to give up just yet. Stopping a few feet away from his prisoner, he willed the shadows away.

"Huh? Want's up now kiddo? Finally decided to come along all nice and easy like?" The Xing man said, stretching himself a bit. Gathering the shadows around himself, Selim took a deep breath. No going back now.

"I'm not letting y-you take me, and I'm not going t-to just stay here and wait to get caught either," the young boy said shakily, getting into a rather clumsy and most likely completely incorrect fighting stance. He could feel Pride's annoyance and what seemed to be shock at his sudden change of attitude.

"_What the? You were about to give up!"_ The fake child nearly whined. Selim chose to ignore him though, trying to keep all his focus on the equally surprised looking man in front of him. After a few seconds he let out a low chuckle.

"Well well well, you got more spunk then you let on, kid. I like that. Hope you're up for round two, then," Greed said, the blue shield like substance quickly covering his arms before he started to lunge towards the young boy with as much skilled and confidence as before. Trying not to flinch back, and nearly succeeding, Selim willed several spike like shadows towards the man before he could reach him. They were quickly dodged, but they gained him enough time to resurrect a barrier to hold back his attacker.

Strike, dodge, scratch, strike, dodge, scratch. Greed was moving in a circle around him, hoping in and out and generally making it extremely difficult for Selim to even try to hold him back. Not to mention his mind was split in between fighting off the Xing man and finding a way to escape. It wasn't like there was any kind of distraction he could use. There weren't any people, just a bunch of trees.

The trees. Selim let a small smile play on his stolen lips as the haphazard plan formed in his head. No guarantee it would work, but it was something at least. Better then fighting till exhaustion and being caught before trying anything.

Shooting lance after lance of shadow after Greed, they were easily dodged, but managed to drive him towards the other end of the clearing, a good eight or nine feet away. Not that far, but it was good enough.

The last bladed shadow, larger then the others, zipped straight past the Xing man and into the forest. Swinging his arm to the side, the shadow mimicked his motion, slashing around the clearing, clean through any trees in it's path.

"What the?" Greed yelled, jumping out of the way of one of the fallen trees. Selim didn't let the shadow stop until it had completed a full circle and the sound of wood snapping and trees crashing was almost deafening. Pulling the shadows up in a sort of makeshift wood umbrella, he ran off into a random direction of the forest. He could hear the much taller man's attempt at following just slightly through the crashing, but didn't even attempt to look back or stop until he was out of the woods and nearly out of town.

Collapsing agents an old brick wall, Selim couldn't move as he sat and panted. Finally lifting his head up and looking down the street, he saw no sign of his pursuer. It was still early in the morning, he had no idea when he'd made the shadows leave, and he had no idea how he'd just managed to escape.

A smile suddenly broke out on his face, and he didn't try to stop himself from laughing. He did it! He was free! For now at least, but that didn't matter. He wasn't going to just lay down and die again, Pride would just have to deal.

"_You little… I will regain control of my container! You have no idea what you're meddling in, and when you do realize, it will be a rude awakening,"_ Pride growled, anger radiating off of his voice. It didn't stop Selim's smile though, he deserved to celebrate a little, even if this was just a small victory in the long run.

"Don't worry Pride, I know I have no idea what's going on, but I'm sure you wouldn't want a weak little kid ruining your reputation right?' The black haired boy said between pants. He had no idea how far he'd ran, but it was probably a good idea to get up and keep moving. He guessed the plan was still Dublith, if for no other reason then to have a destination, because even though it was pretty far away from Central and the homunculus, as he now knew them as, it probably wasn't far enough. No matter how far it was, it definitely wasn't far enough.

"_It never will be_," Pride growled, the close call with getting rid of him failing obviously leaving the voice a little bitter. Selim nodded in agreement though, he was right, after all, but that didn't mean he couldn't try.

"I know, so bare with me for a little longer please. You'll get your body back someday," Selim said, his voice once again meek. It was hard for him to be so optimistic that he thought he could run forever.

Heading towards the train station, he planned to hop on the first train he saw. It didn't matter in reality if it was heading towards Dublith or not. If it was, good, if not, then he'd just change his destination, it wasn't that big of a deal. He knew the odds were stacked heavily out of his favor, and he'd be shocked if he lasted another month. Not like Pride. If Pride was in his situation, he'd take control and be sure of himself and know for a fact that he was going to survive.

Seeking into the train station, the young boy realized that it didn't bother him that much anymore that he wasn't as confident or strong as Pride was. It wasn't who he was, and so far he'd managed to survive being himself, and, despite being absolutely insane that he had, it felt nice that he could.

It was funny how two people with the same name, kind of anyway, and were to some extent, the same person, (Selim wasn't sure how he knew it was like that, he just did, and he was sure Pride thought the same thing too,) were such vast opposites. Maybe if they weren't in a situation were the success of one equaled the death of the other and vise-versa, the could have been friends. Or at least learned something from each other. Maybe.

Until they found a way to meet both their needs though, they were enemies living in the same body, and for some reason or another, neither boy minded all that much.

* * *

And hurray for getting back on track! I wish I had a super long chapter to give you after such a long wait, but I thought that was a good place to end it. Selim's finally taking control, and managed to get away from Greed.

Well, hope you like this chapter and please review. I promise not to go a month without updating ever again. Unless my computer breaks again….


	17. Chapter 16

Hello. I thought it was about time for an update, so here it is. Not much to say besides sorry for the wait (why is that all I'm saying lately?), so yeah.

"_Pride speaking"_

"**Selim's mind link with Pride**"

Disclaimer- Don't own Full Metal Alchemist

Chapter 16

Using the same technique as the first time, Selim slipped onto the train with ease. He hadn't been able to see where it was heading exactly, but any place but Central was a good one for him. He wondered how long before it became big news that he was missing. Maybe he should get a disguise or a make over or something.

"_Don't you dare mess with my container,"_ Pride growled in his head, and Selim just shrugged. If he needed to get one, he would, although he probably wouldn't get a hair cut or anything. "_Fine, it doesn't matter anyway."_

The train stopped maybe four boring and silent hours later. Peaking out of a small crack, he waited until the coast was clear before running out of the cart and then station. It looked like a small city. He still didn't know what the name was, but that didn't really concern him. After about an hour of wandering through the town, he finally found the building of his desired destination. The library.

"_What are you planning to do in there?_" Pride asked, sounding a bit bored. Selim couldn't figure out what side of the ancient voice was a act, the almost normal, impatient childlike side, or the insanely evil, angry and kind of scary side. Maybe both, maybe neither, they were both too realistic to tell.

"**Just some research,**" the black haired boy responded, not planning to elaborate, even in his head. He still wasn't sure how he was able to tell that the voice was rolling his eyes, if he even had any of his own.

"_You won't be able to find anything in a normal library like that,_" He said, annoyed. Selim decided not to listen to him, although he'd basically decided not to listen to anything the child in his head said anymore, and continued to walk up the steps.

"**I can try**." Once inside, he went straight for the section they had on alchemy. It wasn't very big, but it was a place to start. Grabbing as many books as he could fit in his small arms, he went over to the nearest table and began searching through for any mention he could possibly find of homunculus.

Skimming thoroughly through seven and a half books four hours later, he tried not to fall asleep on his current one. He hadn't eaten anything yet today, although he found that the longer he had been in this new body, the less he's been getting hungry. It had started to be that way with sleep too, but four hours of constant searching had certainly drained him. He hadn't even completely read any of the books, there was no way he could possibly go that fast, so there was a small chance that he had missed what he was looking for, especially the longer he kept up at it.

"_What did I tell you? It's useless in a place like this,_" Selim shook his head though. He wasn't giving up, but he definitely needed a break. He'd end up needing glasses if he kept reading at this rate, and he could just feel the beginning of a headache. Placing the books back on the shelf where he got them, the black haired boy left the library. He had been so focused and now his eyes were so worn out, he didn't notice the librarian staring at him through most of his researching and watching him leave, before picking up the phone on her desk.

"Hello? Police, I'd like to report…"

Walking along the streets, Selim looked for a place to rest. He couldn't find any parks like he'd stayed in at the previous town, and wasn't sure where else to turn to. Abandoned buildings were hard to come by and probably weren't as abandoned as their name suggested, he wasn't going to rest in the streets, and he wasn't really sure what kind of public places he could rest in, except for maybe the library, and he had just left there.

After about an hour of wandering he finally found a small park. It wasn't as big as the previous one, only a tiny field, a playground and a few benches. Sitting on the bench farthest away from the main congestion of parents and kids, the black haired boy closed his eyes. Some of those books he'd been looking through were much too advanced for him. He hadn't been able to make heads or tails of anything, and it was even worse only getting glimpses of information like he had been.

So far Pride had been right, sadly enough. He'd only gone through seven and a half books though, there was still plenty more in that library, there wasn't any reason to get discouraged yet. The thing was though, he wasn't even really sure what he was looking for. Homunculus, yeah, but what was that? Well, if he knew, he probably wouldn't be looking it up in the first place.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, an hour at least, and he was nearly asleep when he heard the footsteps behind him. He didn't fully acknowledge them at first, whoever it was wasn't bothering him.

"Selim Bradley?" that jolted him into action. Before he could even register what he was doing, he was on his feet, facing the three police men on the other side of the bench. Even then it took a few seconds to finally click. Someone had seen him. Someone had recognized him.

"_What are you going to do now?"_ Pride's voice brought him back to reality just a bit. There was no way to deny it, not with how he acted. Not quite sure what else to do, he simply nodded. The men glanced at each other before turning back towards him, trying to look as non intimidating as possible. They could tell he was scared, well, shocked would have been a better word, but they didn't understand the severity of the situation. It was just a runaway child to them. The president's child yes, but still just a child.

"Don't worry, we're going to take you home now," the man in the middle, a middle aged guy with black hair flecked just a tiny bit with grey, said as the one on the left moved towards him. Selim knew, looking back, that remaining calm and looking for an opening like he'd done with the Elric brothers probably would have been the best plan of action, but stuck in the moment, he panicked.

"What the hell!" the man who'd been walking towards him rightfully screamed, a wall of black shadows shooting up between them. The other two men jumped back by instinct, and almost if not everybody in the park was staring in the four's direction. Selim could only stare, gapping, in shock. He had not meant to do that…

"_You idiot! Make it go away now! Make it go away! No one can know about that! You're going to ruin everything!"_ Pride's voice screamed in his head, the panic very clear. Despite earlier decisions, Selim did as he was told the instant the nerve endings in his brain decided to start firing again.

"S-sorry!" the black haired boy stuttered, although he wasn't really sure who he was apologizing to, the police men or Pride. Running off in a random direction, he had no idea where he was going as he heard the three men begin to regain their composer and start to give chase.

He was about four blocks away from the park when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Gotcha!" It was the middle aged man. Trying to break out if his grip, the young boy found he couldn't. This man was stronger then he looked. The two other policemen had reached them now, and there was no possible way to escape inconspicuously. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes in fear. Pride was going to kill him.

The black haired policeman's arm was quickly covered in shadowy treadles, as well as the legs of the other two. The three almost instantly began to struggle as Selim took a few steps away, wincing from the screeching the voice in his head was making.

"What the hell is this? Alchemy?" this came from the third man, who'd previously hadn't said anything. Deciding that explanation was as good as any, the black haired boy decided to just take it and go.

"Kind of. Sorry about this, bye," He said, and started to run off again. He made several turns around corners before breaking the shadows holding the men. The trail of what looked like pure darkness he left in his wake had certainly scared a few people, but he didn't pay them much attention. He couldn't, not with the racket Pride was making in his head.

"_I swear! Humans are the most… You are… I can't believe you'd… You have no right to use my powers as you please, jeopardizing our plans!_" It continued on like that for some time, until Selim was at the outskirts of the town and Pride was still going at it. Sighing, Selim decided it might do some good to actually answer him.

"I'm sorry?" He wasn't really sure where to start. "The people probably thought it was alchemy anyway. Your plans will be fine, I guess. I couldn't get caught. I've already decided that," Selim said, getting a bit fed up with the angry voice. That was strange. All this was changing him, unsurprisingly, but he wasn't sure if he liked it.

"_And I can't be the one to ruin father's plans. You don't understand…" _Pride said, remaining silent after that. Walking away from the still unnamed town, the black haired boy realized for the first time how true that was. He really didn't understand.

* * *

Hurray, chapter 16 up. Ten days is better then a month, right? I swear, school takes up so much time, especially my AP art history class. I love it though, so I guess that makes up for the time input a tiny bit.

Well, please review and tell me what you think.


	18. Chapter 17

Hello all and a happy Halloween to you. I am proud to say that I've finally fleshed out the details for the ending of this, and now I just need to get there. I no longer feel as though I'm trying to stay away from repeating myself and running in circles, so hurray, my spiritual journey of fan fiction is a success. With the way this is going and looking at the statuses of my other stories, this will probably be my first finished multi-chapter fic. Let's not look so far ahead though, we've still got a long way to go. So without further ado, on with the next chapter.

Chapter 17

The next few weeks were better then he thought they would be. It was becoming easier to avoid the police, simply because he started to actually figure out what he was doing, much to Pride's annoyance. Selim was sure that what bothered the voice in his head beyond all else was the way that his shadowy powers time and again helped his borderline captor.

They were just beyond useful though. They could slip through places with no one noticing, and at night it was possible to hide himself in some kind of dark cocoon like thing. Pride called these things humiliating and a huge abuse of his powers, but that didn't mean he was going to stop. Not in the least, if it was letting his live on his own.

He knew they were still searching though, so it was all he could do to not be noticed. After his last chase down by the police, he quickly barrowed (stole, Pride had told him bluntly, as there was no way for him to ever really return them) some new clothes. They didn't fit exactly, the short sleeved grey shirt a bit too big, and his pants needing a belt, but they would do. He also took a simple grey hat that he found sitting on a bench in one of the past towns. Some kid must of let it there when he went to play on the park, but Selim didn't waste any time in taking it. He didn't really where hats, and it wasn't exactly the right shade of grey to match, too dark, but that didn't matter. It hid his face, and that was all he needed.

The necessarily of his situation didn't make it any easier though when, three weeks after he had first left, he happened to hear a broadcast of his, no, Pride's mother, pleading for her son to come home, and if anybody had taken or seen him, to please contact them. The black haired boy almost immediately ran from the spot, into some alleyway before wrapping himself in his shadow cocoon before crying.

_"__What are you blubbering about this time_?" The annoyance clearly dripping from Pride's voice, although Selim had also felt some sort of emotion from the sin when listening to the broadcast. It was hard to say what though, a bit like homesickness, or regret, but he couldn't be sure. It was hard to say when it came to Pride and his mother.

"I-I want t-to go home," He said, trying desperately to wipe away the tears. The scoff he heard from Pride was expected.

"_Then go, I wont stop you_," Selim just shook his head though as the water began to stop flowing. He was sad and lonely and tired and he wanted to sleep in a real bed and eat real, cooked food and missed his mother and hated how scary it got at night and the way he was constantly moving and just wanted to stay put, but he wasn't stupid. He hadn't found out much about the homunculus, but he wasn't planning on quitting his search anytime soon. If he went back, that Father person would quickly remove him, and although he wasn't entirely sure what would happen to him, it wasn't good.

"S-sorry Pride, not yet," he managed to say before lowering his cocoon and standing up. Besides, that wasn't really his home anyway. It was Pride's, and no matter what happened, he would never be Pride.

It had been a week since then, and a full month since he first left. A month since he died. How many people could say that?

"_Seven, at least_," The voice chimed in, and Selim just shook his head before trying to figure out what in the world that meant. He needed to focus. "_Well actually, somewhere in the ten thousands or more. How many people were in that city? Ah well, they couldn't really talk anymore anyway. Although the ones in Envy do speak in his one form, but they hardly chat about how long it's been since they died_," He rambled, and Selim shook his head again before ducking back behind the corner again.

"Pride, please stop, this is important," He said, although he could tell the voice truly didn't care about whatever it was he was planning. He hadn't told him, after all. It would be hard to think with him trying to persuade him agents it, or his outright yelling or complaining.

Glancing around the corner again, he took a deep breath. He was making a huge gamble here. They had already tried to send him home once, but that was before they knew anything. Not to mention, despite his constant planning to escape and fear to speak when they first met, he had looked up to them. Kind of like Pride said he acted, only genuine, and he was shyer in his praise.

"_Just what in the world are you- Them? You're planning on getting assistance from them_!" Pride asked, the shock clear in his voice. Selim shrugged and nodded, not sure what else to do. "_No no no no! You can not- will not tell them anything! Do you understand me! Those are important sacrifices you twit! You. Will. Ruin. Everything_." The voice continued, venom nearly dripping from every word, as well as panic. Selim tried best to block the ancient child's voice out, but that was sadly one of the things he hadn't figured out yet. That, and using those insane eyes on the shadows without getting a headache from the multiple perspective.

"Sorry, but you can't stop me Pride, and I need help," He said, before stepping out of the alleyway he'd been in after finally finding his targets after nearly a week of searching. He could still hear Pride's protest as he walked up to the two. It was going to be very hard to talk.

"Um, excuse me? Mr. Elric?" he asked, tapping the shorter one of the shoulder. He was standing behind them, and they were sitting on a bench discussing something, he'd been to far away to hear, and now Pride was screaming in his brain.

"Huh? Oh, hey there kid, do you need something?" The blonde asked, not recognizing him at first. Selim guessed that was a good thing. It meant his disguise was working, at least. The larger but younger brother turned around as well, and the black haired boy couldn't help but try to avoid his eyes. He was a bit intimidating.

"Do we know you?" Alphonse Elric asked, trying to get a good look at his face. Selim nodded before getting the willpower to look up. Pride had stopped yelling, but was now mumbling obscenities under his breath. He could still hear them though, and had to keep from wincing every few seconds.

"Y-yes, I'm Selim Bradley, I kind of… ran away from you guys a few weeks ago…" He explained, and the two brothers were almost instantly on their feet. They had most definitely known that he was still missing, and being very elusive, at that.

"S-Selim! Oh my, it is you! Everybody's been worried sick!" Al said, looking as glad as someone could while wearing a full body suit of armor. Ed nodded in agreement, although he looked more shocked than anything.

"Where've you been? How'd you even get here? We lost you in Blighton, right? How'd you get all the way out here?" The older brother asked, and Selim took a deep breath, here's where things started to get complicated. The questions.

"I walked, mostly…" He said. They weren't too bad so far, but that didn't mean things could change very quickly, not to mention the whole reason he came here was to explain his situation, but right now that was what he was dreading the most.

"Walked? How haven't you been caught yet? We heard they almost had you once, but you ran off again…" It was Al to ask his this time, and just as he though, it was about to get very strange, very fast.

"I forced Pride to help me," He said, quicker then the two brothers were probably able to comprehend. They quickly glanced at each other before turning back to the runaway.

"You forced who to help you?" Ed asked, suspicion and confusion in his voice. Before he could answer, the shadowy figure in his head started up again.

_"Don't tell them don't tell them don't you dare tell them_!" he yelled, and Selim subtlety shook his head before answering again.

"Pride… He's a homunculus…" the response was not something he'd expected. The shock at his words coupled with Pride's protest made it certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that they knew something of what was going on, and therefore perfect to help him out of his predicament.

"A… a homunculus?" The younger brother asked, and Selim nodded again. Ed whipped his head around looking for any sighs of a suspicious person, before turning back towards the black haired boy.

"Where is he?" He asked, and Selim took one more deep breath. He'd already explained the same thing to a few other people, mainly other homunculus, and of course himself multiple times, but this was it. Either they believed him, or thought he was absolutely insane and attempt to capture him yet again and send him home, only to be exercised and killed.

"He's stuck in my head."

* * *

Oh I'm so very sorry for the short chapter, but I was unexpectedly called into work this morning, and have to be there in an hour, so I didn't have all the time I wanted to actually write this, but really wanted to get a chapter up. Plus, I really wanted to end it there, for suspense purposes. Well, hope you liked it even if it was short.

Please review.


	19. Chapter 18

Hi there. Once again I'm apologizing for taking forever on getting the chapter out. I actually shouldn't even be writing right now, but the urge to write has been coming less often lately, so I'm taking it any chance I get. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things, and everything will be okay.

"_Pride speaking."_

"**Selim's mind link"**

Chapter 18

"He's stuck in my head."

The two brothers were silent, looking back and forth between each other and the small boy in front of them. Selim really wished he could go back in time and word what he had said in a way that made him seem less insane, if there was such a way, at least. After what felt like forever to him, Al spoke.

"Um, what do you mean, he's stuck in your head?" the armored boy asked, and Selim tried to calm him nerves before speaking again.

"I took control of his body by accident, and he's in my head now. I-I can hear him and things, but I can't see him, although he can see what I see…" the black haired boy trailed off. He didn't even dare to look up at the brothers, not wanting to see what their faces looked like. Well, Edward's face at least. There was just no way for them to believe him though. Hey, he didn't even believe him, and he was the one saying it.

"Wait a minute, took control of his body? What the? Then where's the body?" The shorter teen asked. Selim didn't try to figure out if those questions meant he believed him or not, just deciding to answer, and hopefully try and dig himself out of the crazy hole.

"Right here, this is Pride's body," He explained. Pride had grown rather silent all of a sudden, although the black haired boy guessed that was a good thing, he could just focus on the brothers. They were silent now too though. Glancing up, he saw the shock and confusion clearly written on both of them, surprisingly. Staring back at his feet, he began to scuff at the dirt.

"You don't believe me, do you?" maybe this was all a mistake after all, but he hadn't known who else to go to.

"N-no! It's not that!" Selim's head snapped up at the younger brother's protest. They had to be insane to believe him. Edward sighed, pulling his hand down his face before starting up again after his brother.

"Look, just, start from the beginning. Who are you and how did you get into a homunculus' body?" He asked. Now it was Selim's turn to be shocked. They were giving him a chance to explain everything, and not just cart him off to the nearest police station? That really was a surprise.

"Okay…okay, I'm Selim Bradley, and I… I got into Pride's body after I died…" Glancing up off the ground, the brothers didn't look shocked or in disbelief, they were just staring at him, listening. Ed nodded, although he did look a bit confused.

"If you're Selim Bradley, and you're in Pride's body, then why does Pride look just like you?" the teen asked. The black haired boy began to get fidgety again. They were hearing him out so far, but there was no telling when something he said would cross the line, and if it wasn't that Pride was stuck in his head, it was most likely going to be this.

"I… I don't know. Pride says that Selim Bradley is just a fake name he made up in pretending to be the president's son, b-but where I'm from I really am Selim, but then my father he… he…" urg, why was he so emotional all the time? Why couldn't he act calm and collected like the Elric brothers, or even Pride? Instead he was trying, and failing, to not cry when just thinking of what his father did to him and unknowingly put him though. He didn't want to act like such a child all the time.

"_You are a child,"_ The sin's voice echoed though his head, the tone of voice that of someone stating the weather, or that it was Tuesday.

"Be quiet Pride," Selim said, not really caring that he said it out loud, although the brothers definitely noticed.

"Hey there now, it's okay," Alphonse said, kneeling next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort. Selim just nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Yes, what had happened was emotionally scarring and traumatizing, but he had to keep a hold of himself now if he ever wanted to get back to a normal life. Once he appeared calm enough, Ed started up again.

"What did Pride say?" the teen asked, and Selim rubbed his eye quickly for the last time before answering.

"He just said I was a child, it's nothing…" he explained. Taking a deep breath, the black haired boy decided to just hurry up and say it, it wasn't like saying it would make it happen again or anything. "My father killed me, and I woke up in Pride's body," the quickness and suddenness of what he said almost made it go over the brothers head, but it sunk in rather quickly.

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel before we talk about anything else," Alphonse suggested, and his brother nodded in response before turning towards the child still standing behind the bench.

"That okay with you?" He asked, and Selim nodded without much thought. They might be trying to catch him, but his instincts told him they weren't, and so far his instincts hadn't been too wrong. Following the two it wasn't long before they reached a decent looking hotel and headed inside. The walk had been eerily quiet for the young boy, not even Pride saying a word, or at least protesting.

Sitting down in a chair agents the wall, Selim tried to speak to the voice in his head before the brothers started their questioning again. "**Hey, Pride?**" he asked, although there was no response. Before he could try for a second time though, the Elrics were in front of him and the door to the room closed. Under normal situations, like if he was back home, a blaring, danger, danger, warning would be going off, but this wasn't a normal situation, and he could easily escape with the use of Pride's powers.

"So, let me get your story straight," Ed started, "your father killed you, and when you woke up you were in the body of a homunculus named Pride, who looks exactly like you, and is only pretending to be the president's son?" Selim nodded. It sounded really bad when put like that. "This is crazy…" The teen grumbled, although he was quickly chastised by his brother.

"C'mon Ed, I know it sounds strange, but we should hear him out, I mean…" the armored man trailed off, and Selim's head shot up. It wasn't anything that had been said, he just couldn't believe he'd actually forgotten. Sure it was a long shot that they knew anything, but whoever that person was is the cause of all this and he'd left him out.

"The white figure…" he said without really thinking, causing the two brothers to turn their attention back towards him.

"The what now?" Edward asked, and Selim shook his head as a way of almost clearing his thoughts before answering.

"W-when I died, I was in this really weird place, it was yellow at first, but then I went thought this scary door, and then it was white, and there was this white figure. He said I could live. He's the one who put me in Pride's body…" the black haired boy was still beating himself up a bit on the inside for letting that little detail slip his mind. Sure it had been a while since he had really analyzed just what had happened before he was trapped in this situation, but he still shouldn't have forgotten.

Looking up he was just able to see the end of what must have been some sort of conversation without words between the brothers. He had no idea what it was about, but apparently something he said had rung some sort of bell.

"This white figure, what did he say to you, exactly?" Alphonse asked. Selim had to think for a bit. He'd almost blocked all this from his mind for a while there, just focusing on surviving day to day.

"When I first say him, I asked who he was, and he just called himself, the truth, I don't know what he meant, but…" looking at the shocked expressions on the Elric brother's faces, it was easy for the black haired boy to put the pieces together in his head, even if he was just a child, "but apparently, you two do."

The subtle nod and serious looks of the Elrics actually managed to spark some hope in him. Trying to contain it, there was still many things that could go wrong, he started to be the one to ask questions.

"Please, Mr. Elric Brothers, could you tell me who that person was. Do you know what he did to me?" he asked, slipping back into his instinctive politeness. The two glanced at each other before turning to answer his question.

"Well, we're not sure what he is, let alone who," the older teen answered. Selim sank down a bit in his chair. He shouldn't be disappointed, he knew that there was a very slim chance of them having any idea what all this could possibly be about, let alone be able to just fix everything. Alphonse obviously sensed his disappointment and made a quick attempt to say something encouraging.

"D-don't worry! We know where that guy is, sort of, and well, we can't just go there, but I'm sure that we'll be able to fix you," the armored man said quickly, and Selim nodded, surprised that he actually was a bit encouraged. They knew where he was, that was a huge start.

"Oh don't you two trouble yourselves with that."

All three beings in the room froze at the voice coming from behind them. Overcoming their shock at a much faster rate then Selim, the two brothers spun around to quickly face the new, fourth occupant of the room. The black haired child couldn't move any more then a stone could, Pride speaking up for the first time since he had almost cried.

"_I told you it was only a matter of time,_" The sin said, the smug tone back full force as Selim stared helplessly at who he assumed was sent here to pick him up. He hadn't seem this person since he'd gone underground that first time, but he was wearing the same strange clothing and had the same odd hairstyle.

"Thanks so much for taking care of Pride here. Guy must of gone off the deep end or something, didn't you? Don't worry yourselves, we'll fix him up good as new," The stick thin man said, walking towards the three. Selim knew he should be doing something, anything, to protect himself, but wasn't able to think straight. Thankfully for him, the Elric brothers were, quickly getting into fighting stances.

"Envy! I'm not sure what's going on here, but we're not letting you take him," Edward said, transmuting his automail arm into a sharp blade. The green tinted haired sin didn't look too worried though, chuckling, even.

"Oh pipsqueak, when will you learn that you really don't have a say in the matter?"

* * *

Yay, new chapter after such a long time, and the action is returning again, double yay! If you must sacrifice me to the updating gods for treason, please, be gentle.

Well, hopefully I'm still managing to keep you all entertained with this story. I don't feel as though I'm going to get into any more ruts, so hurray.

Well, please review.


	20. Chapter 19

Now I know I've said I've taken a long time in the past to update, but this definitely takes the cake, doesn't it? Kind of took an impromptu hiatus very unexpectedly and without any info on my part as to when I would be back, so I am so very sorry about all of that. I am back now though, if anyone is still interested in this, and all, my stories. I could go on and on about how I just couldn't update and all that junk, but you've all waited long enough ad I shouldn't be stalling any longer, so here is the next chapter of Broken Mirror.

"_Pride speaking"_

"**Selim's inner thoughts to Pride"**

Chapter 19

"Oh pipsqueak, when will you learn that you really don't have a say in the matter?"

Selim was frozen in place. This could not be happening. He finally thought he'd managed to maybe find a safe place and this, this creep who's name he'd forgotten had found him and he didn't know what to do.

"_There's nothing you can do, and that's Envy, by the way,"_ Pride oh so helpfully informed him. The black haired child managed to gain enough control over himself to back up to the wall behind him as the Elrics quickly started their assault, Edward turning the automail arm of his into a blade, and Alphonse going in with just his fist. The wild haired man jumped out of the way, a confused look on his face.

"Why would you people want him anyway? He's kind of your enemy, you know?" Envy asked as he dodged another slash from the blonde, slowly managing to make his way closer to Selim, although not by much.

"I already said I have no idea what the hells going on Envy, but this kid seems pretty innocent to me, and the fact that you guys want him is an even bigger reason to keep him away," Ed explained, earning a glare from his foe, although it quickly left as he jumped out of the way of Al's fist.

Selim felt so helpless, cowering in the corner. He knew that was wrong though, he wasn't helpless. At least, not anymore. He had Pride's powers, but he couldn't think straight enough to actually use them. He may not be that weak physically anymore, but dang it he was still an emotional wreak of a child!

The fight was getting more intense the longer it went on and the shorter Envy's patience grew. The room was already a disaster area and someone from the hotel staff was sure to come and try and check out what all the noise was about. This had to stop soon, before someone innocent was hurt. It wasn't like he could just give himself up though! They'd take him down to the underground base and do all sorts of experiments on him until they got rid of whatever part of him was still alive in this body in order to bring Pride back. He didn't want to die again!

"_That's fine. Those Elrics can't protect you forever. The second one of those useless individuals from the hotel comes in here to get slaughtered by Envy they'll freeze up, and then you'll be right for the taking. It's only a matter of time. You decide if any of those worthless humans you say you care about has to die or not," _Pride's voice echoed through his mind, sending a chill up his spine. He was a lying, manipulative monster, but he was telling the truth this time. He knew it was the truth and that's why it was so effective in getting people to act how he wanted. Taking a deep breath, Selim really hoped he wouldn't regret this.

"Stop!" he yelled, which effectively froze everyone in the room, much to his surprise. Oh great, they were all staring at him now and he didn't know what to say.

"Selim, what's going on?" the older Elric asked, making sure to keep one eye on Envy the entire time. The black haired boy took another breath, trying to steel some courage for what he had to say next. He had to do it, or people would die.

"I-I'll go with him," he said quietly, not able to look the Elrics in the eyes, opting instead to stare at Envy, who gained a rather unnerving smile as he clapped his hands excitedly.

"Well isn't that better! Glad to see you finally got some sense back in ya Pride, now lets get back, you've already caused enough damage, not to mention revealing yourself and all," the thin man said, walking towards him. Selim could feel the annoyance bubbling inside of Pride. Envy probably wouldn't get off too easy for saying that when the psychopath inside of him was really back in control.

"Wait!" Al yelled, getting in between the two homunculi, "Selim, you can't just give up, who knows what these people will do to you," the armor protested. Selim shook his head as he walked past Alphonse towards his soon to be capture. He knew he should explain to the brothers, but he didn't know where to start. Sure, mostly it was so that no one else would get hurt by the skinny maniac in the room, but there was another reason as well. Maybe being captured by these monsters wouldn't be completely bad.

"I'm s-sorry, Mr. Alphonse, but people might get hurt if I don't go," surely they would understand, right? They were both smart, they were bound to see that the commotion was sure to draw attention sooner or later, right? He hadn't realized he reached Envy's side until he felt a hand clamp on his shoulder. It was cold, like he didn't have any body heat.

"Okay, so you're not back to your old self, but whatever the reason, it's fine by me, let's go," He said, starting to drag the boy away.

"Stop!" Ed barked, back into his fighting stance. They weren't going to just let him go? Well, they sure were nice people.

"_More stubborn then anything,_" Pride interjected, but before Selim could respond a loud sigh from Envy distracted him.

"So annoying. You just never give up, do you pipsqueak?" The man asked before reaching down and flinging Selim over his shoulder. The black haired boy couldn't suppress the yelp of surprise as he was picked up and carted away, out the window by the speedy man. He saw both Elric brothers give chase for quite some time before they finally lost them and Envy decided to slow down. By then they were already outside of town, walking along the side of a road.

After a while Selim started to fidget. It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, and the homunculus' grip was rather tight.

"Um, Mr. Envy?" the black haired boy started nervously. It definitely wasn't hard to tell that this guy was not all there psychologically, and he didn't want to accidentally set him off or something.

"Yeah squirt?" he responded, not seeming to be aware of the anger he was causing to burn inside the actual Pride. Apparently he did not like derogatory nicknames. Who would of guessed?

"Um, do you think you can let me down now? I can walk," He asked, turning himself as to look at the back of his capture's head. Much to his disappointment, he saw it shake in the negative.

"This is faster, not to mention we can't risk you freaking out and running away again, now can we?" Envy answered. Selim sighed. He was probably being taken to Central, but that would take forever. He'll just have to hold out, he guessed, but there wasn't any reason as to why he couldn't try to get some information out of the man, he guessed. They wanted him alive, because they thought he was Pride after all.

"Alright, but how long do you think it will take to get to Central?" The black haired child asked. Envy shrugged, jostling the child.

"Probably a day on foot. You didn't have much of a plan when you ran off did you? Didn't exactly get very far," the man laughed. At that moment Selim was glad that the psycho couldn't see his face, the embarrassment he felt all over it. He had gone far, but it appears it was mostly in a circle.

"_Idiot,_" Pride mumbled in his head. Selim frowned. That wasn't what he needed right now, when he was trying to think of some way out of this. He couldn't do the same thing he had with Greed, there was no where near enough trees for something like that.

"**Be quiet Pride, I'm thinking,**" the boy countered in his head, earning a figurative eye roll from the second mind inside him.

"_It wont work, whatever you think of. Father has been planning and strategizing for over four hundred years. There isn't anything you can do to out maneuver him,"_ The voice shot, but Selim wasn't going to let him discourage him anymore.

"**I've done pretty well so far, no reason I can't keep trying,**" he argued.

"_Even after you've already given up?_" Pride asked, and Selim wasn't sure if the demotic being was taunting him or really just curious.

"**Even then,**" the black haired boy said, staring at the road as it receded behind him. Sure, Pride had a point, there was no way he could run forever, but he wasn't trying for forever. He was just trying to last long enough to figure out a way to get back home. He wasn't even all that sure if he wanted to go back. He had no idea what was waiting for him, but it had to be better then here.

Shifting his position slightly again, he tried to get as comfortable as he could be while draped over someone else's shoulder. It would be a while until they reached Central, and he needed every second of that time to think of a way out.

* * *

And it's done! I feel like I'm cheating all you kind people. Right before it feels like it's getting to the good part, I end the chapter, but then the next one's not even all that good. Well, I hope you like this, as well as my return, anyway. Please review.


	21. Chapter 20

Hello one and all. I didn't die again! I'll let you all decide if this is a good thing or not. Saw the dubbed version of the episode The President's Son just now, so of course I had to get off my lazy self and write the next chapter of this. Well, let me shut up and actually write the story now.

"_Pride Speaking"_

"**Selim speaking to Pride"**

Chapter 20

After a few hours Selim managed to fall asleep, still hanging over the boney man's shoulder. He didn't think he would have been able to, but he was tired, and it became pretty monotonous after a while. When he woke up, it was dark and he could see the lights of Central coming into view. Envy started to pick up the pace then, reaching the entrance of the same kind of secrete tunnel the black haired boy had first escaped from.

They descended into the tunnel and Selim really wished he'd thought of a plan instead of falling asleep, now he'd have to play it by ear. He wasn't able to look up to the ceiling from his position, but he could hear the growls and movement of the strange creatures that seemed to live in the ceiling. He'd forgotten about those. Now he was even more worried, what if when he tried to escape they ordered them to attack? He hadn't been able to see them the first time he'd went though, but it sure sounded like there was a lot.

They reached the large room full of wires with the strange throne in the center and Envy, rather ungracefully, dropped Selim onto the floor, where he lay in a heap for a few seconds before quickly attempting to straighten himself and stand up.

They were standing in front of the throne, and Selim finally saw the man who Pride kept talking about. He had long blonde hair, was a bit old looking and wore some kind of long white robe. He didn't look friendly and Selim had to resist the urge to whimper or back away, which really was strange. The man was scary, but not that scary. Really, he was more intimidated of the psychotic man who'd brought him here. With everything Pride had built him up to be, Selim had expected skeletons and black cloaks and fire.

"Father," the green haired man started, walking towards the chair, "I found Pride, although Greed was right, he definitely isn't himself." The man named Father nodded before looking over at Selim, who had to will himself to meet his gaze. Echoing footsteps caught his attention though, and he saw Greed step out from behind the throne as well.

That probably should of increased his worry, having to add another person to the list of enemies he needed to escape from at the moment, but he was actually a bit glad to see the Xing man. He didn't give off an aura of pure evil like these other two, and he wasn't alone with them anymore. The black haired boy actually had to keep himself from waving at him, resulting in both Pride and himself commanding him to stop being stupid.

"I see," Father said as he continued staring at the boy, who turned his attention back towards him. "Tell me, what is the meaning off all this?" The blonde man asked, and Selim was struck with an idea. It was desperate, if he got caught he would be in huge trouble, but it was all he had.

"Father," Selim started with a small bow, trying his best to sound strong and confident, "I am truly sorry for any setbacks that were caused do to my misdeeds, but as I see Greed has informed you, I was not in control of my container," The black haired boy said, staring up at the man. He could still see Greed out of the side of his eye though, and he looked completely shocked. Selim could imagine Envy having the same exact expression behind him. Inside his head, Pride didn't say anything at first, and then nearly exploded.

"_What are you doing! A-are you pretending to b-be ME? Y-you little…" _Pride died off, sounding completely stunned. Selim was able to figure out where the underlying fear he'd felt since he'd first saw Father came from. It wasn't his fear, it was Pride's. The revelation made it hard to keep off his face.

"**Pride? Why are **_**you**_** scared? Isn't this what you wanted?**" Selim asked, not taking his eyes off the blonde man. Pride scoffed and tried to regain his composure, although Selim could still fell the intimidation pulsing inside him.

"_I am _not_ scared, and yes I wanted you to come here, but not pretend to be me!"_ the voice defended, but Selim didn't believe him for a second. Was Pride afraid he'd get in trouble or something because of what Selim had did? Before The black haired boy could get the chance to ask, Father started speaking again.

"I see, but tell me my child, how have you regained control?" Father asked, causing Selim to have to think fast.

"You see Father, the human soul that had possessed me had finally lost hope. After running for so long and jeopardizing your plans, being caught was too much for the weakling. He willingly returned control over to me," Selim said, trying to match the scorn usually in Pride's voice when he spoke of humans. The black haired boy knew he was an okay actor, but he couldn't afford any sort of slip up.

Out of the corner of his eye he was able to see Greed slowly come out of his shock at the explanation, although he still looked a bit confused. He probably didn't believe he would give up so easily after their last encounter, and Selim really hoped the man didn't say anything about it.

Father nodded as he looked the boy in front of him over. He was standing straight and staring the blonde man straight in the eyes, a very neutral look on his face. Selim could feel that Pride was fearful of this man, but he knew the voice would never actually show that. He'd fake his strength, and so would Selim.

"Do you doubt me, Father?" Selim asked, not taking his eyes off of the man. He'd never actually met the meek boy, so he might be fooled, Selim just hoped neither Envy nor Greed saw through his façade. He couldn't risk looking over at them to check though. Father was his concern right now. If he convinced him, there was little chance either of the other two would go against his decision without serious evidence to prove otherwise.

"No, I do not," he said after a moment of thought, and Selim had to resist a sigh of relief or responding to Pride's outraged cries in his head.

"_I can't believe it… How could father possibly fall for your charade! You are not me!" _the voice barked, and Selim agreed whole heartedly, but that didn't mean he couldn't pretend, if it meant saving his life.

"What do you wish to do now Father?" Selim asked, "I can not simply return to my position undercover with the commotion that human caused." It sure did pay off having Pride around twenty four seven. It gave him a pretty clear grasp of how the sin spoke, making the disguise at lease semi-natural. Father nodded in agreement, which for some reason sparked Pride's anger again. Jealousy?

"That is true. We'll have you taken up to the surface and brought back by police forces," The blonde man decided, and Selim nodded. He'd have a chance to escape, but it might not be in his best interest to take the first one that came to him. They thought he was Pride. Now was his chance to get information. "but first," Father started again, and Selim locked his eyes with the cold golden ones of his enemy. They were a bit like the full metal alchemist's, only deprived of any and all warmth.

"Yes father?" Selim asked, keeping any of the nervousness he was feeling hidden. What if he'd actually saw though his mask? He'd be killed, or worse. He wasn't sure what worse was, but that was usually an option.

"This child that had gained control over your container, Greed had said that he'd come though the gate after being killed before somehow gaining control over you, is this the truth?" The blonde man asked, and Selim nodded as relief washed over him. He was still fooled.

"Yes it is. I do not know how it possibly happened, but that is what the child informed me. That was also all he knew, sadly, other then a white figure he claimed to see in front of the Gate before possessing me," The black haired boy informed, which caused Father to rub his chin in thought. Finally though, he seemed to put whatever it was he was thinking aside and turned towards Greed to address him.

"Greed, I want to you take Pride up to the surface, we can't risk the human regaining control," At this, Selim made a minor look of annoyance, nothing that would seem disrespectful of Father, but not make it seem like he was perfectly alright with the implication that a mere human could somehow overpower him.

"You got it," the Xing man said before walking towards Selim. The two then headed out past Envy and down the tunnel while the black haired man stayed behind. As they walked Selim didn't say anything. If Greed wanted to talk, then he would start the conversation. Once they were a good distance down the tunnel, he eventually did.

"So Pride, that kid really just give up like you said?" The tall man asked, and Selim scoffed in imitation of Pride while rolling his eyes. He wasn't sure if it should worry him or not, but pretending to be the child like sin really wasn't all that hard. Sure it made it easier to keep up the act, but it shouldn't be that simple to put on a mask of someone completely different from you in every way.

"Of course he did. You know as well as I do how weak those humans are. They can never hold out for long," Greed just nodded and he could guess from the utter annoyance emanating from the real Pride that he was doing a pretty good job.

"Yeah I know, but that kid seemed to have a bit more spunk then that," The Xing man said with a shrug. Selim set a frown on his face as the exit to the tunnel came into view.

"You overestimate those humans Greed, it'd be best if you stopped," the black haired boy said as they left the tunnel. For some reason, those words seemed to annoy the homunculus, although Selim masked his wonder. Pride doesn't act like a child in front of the others, even if he is one.

"And you underestimate them, but I'm Greed and you're Pride, so of course it's going to be like that. Anyway, lets just get Father's plan to get you back to your role as the president's perfect son into action," Greed said as they made their way away from the tunnel. Selim glared at the man, but decided not to say anything and follow him.

He was wrong though, he wasn't Pride, not that he was going to say this. He looked like Pride, and he could act like Pride, but he wasn't him. He wondered how long it would take them to notice though. He had virtually no knowledge of their plan, and he was bound to slip up eventually.

"So Pride, what was it like being completely useless against a little kid?" Greed asked and Selim clenched his first as his glare intensified.

"Greed, if you want to be able to sleep at night, I'd suggest you'd refrain from asking any more questions," The black haired boy growled, effectively shutting the sin up. Selim was still frowning, although it wasn't entirely an act. How natural should his Pride persona be? He couldn't help but feel it was a little too easy. He wasn't like that monster in a child's body though, all this was just so he could survive, right?

* * *

Hurray, finished, and what an interesting turn of events. At least, I hope it is. The funny thing is, I'd originally wrote about half the chapter which Selim acting like himself, and then realized I had no way to save him… So I read it aloud to my sister, and asked her what I could do. She said I could make him act like Pride had regained control, I absolutely loved it, and redid the entire chapter, and now I have a clear path where to go again.

Well, I hope you liked it as much as I did, if so, please review.


	22. Chapter 21

Hello people of the world. Not as tired as I usually am, so figured I should start working on this for all of your pleasure. I've been writing a lot lately, actually. Since the last update I've written two one shots and started a second drabble series (Shameless self advertising) but things like that don't tend to hold me back from updating normally, so this chapter is only a little late. Yay.

"_Pride Speaking"_

"**Selim to Pride"**

Chapter 21

"So, how are we going to do this? That kid sure made it clear that he did not want to be captured," Greed asked as the two walked along the back streets of Central. Selim really had to think about that. How could they make it convincing that he wanted to come back, or why he'd run off in the first place?

"I suppose we could just blame it on a kidnapping. They'd believe it, after all, I am the president's son, that's ample reason for anyone, really. As for my resistance, simple fear," the young boy said, and Greed nodded. It would work, hopefully. He just had to say he never saw the person who'd done it or anything, run up to the police in a bit of hysterics, which would be beyond easy. He was more worried about going overboard then anything.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Okay Pride, this is where you go work that creepy good boy magic of yours, I'll be watching to make sure you get back safe," the Xing man said as they came to one of the busier sections of Central.

"I don't need your help, but do what you wish," Selim said, not looking back as he continued down the street. The police station was in view, and he quickly ran up to it. He wished he could report the crazy super humans living underneath them, but knew it would probably backfire spectacularly. Instead, he went into the station with his head down, fighting tears that were in no way fake, not that his unknowing captors needed to know that.

"Hey there little guy, what can I do for you?" one of the police officers asked as he came up to the counter. Selim took a deep breath, no need to get too emotional yet.

"_You're always too emotional…"_ Pride grumbled, the first thing he'd said in a while. The black haired boy could tell he was still rightfully upset with his plan, but didn't take the time to apologize again.

"C-can you take me home, p-please?" he asked, looking up at the man for the first time. He was a bit chubby, but in a nice way. He was probably older too, but he didn't have that many wrinkles because of his round face. Smiling down at the boy kindly, he seemed like he was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed to one of shock.

"S-S-Selim Bradley!" the officer stuttered out loudly, causing the other occupants of the room to turn their attention to the two. The black haired boy just nodded, not sure what else to do. At least he'd be able to get home soon now.

"_Idiot… it is _not_ your home,"_ Pride growled, startling Selim. He knew Pride was still upset, but usually it was Selim insisting to himself that none of this was his. He'd… He'd just been distracted, is all. Acting like Pride acting like himself was confusing him a bit. He knew none of this was his. It was all an act to survive. There was also the possession in the ancient child's voice that'd shocked him though. He usually tried to make himself sound detached from everything, especially things like his home or human family. He guessed he'd stolen one too many things from the sin.

"I-I, don't worry Mr. Bradley, we'll get you home as soon as possible. Linnel! Get on the phone now! Tell them we found the president's son!" the round policeman yelled, everyone in the station now moving at least twice the speed then before. Selim shifted on his feet awkwardly. Now what should he do?

"Um… Mr. Officer Sir? Is there something you want me to do?" He asked, causing the man to stare at him dumbfounded for a moment, before something apparently clicked in his head.

"Yes, yes. Come with me. We'll make sure you're nice and safe until we can get you back home," the officer said, and Selim just nodded and followed him to one of the back rooms of the station. "Now, it shouldn't be long to get you back at all. I'm sure that they are already on there way," the officer continued as he closed the door. The black haired boy sat down on one of the chairs in the room, nodding to the officer to let the man know he heard him.

The next few moments were mostly silence. Selim kept his eyes on the ground for most of that time. He was glad that no one was questioning him yet. They probably wouldn't until they got permission from his-not his, Pride's- parents. The officer was right when he said that he didn't have to wait long, about four military cars pulling up in front of the police station after maybe eight minutes. Did they really need four cars? At least he wasn't trying to run away anymore.

He saw several military men come out of the cars and into the station through a window, and the officer who was with him went out to probably explain things. Taking another deep breath, Selim tried to calm himself. He didn't get why he was becoming so worked up over it all now. Maybe because he was actually suppose to be showing emotions now instead of distant like Pride? Speaking of Pride, Selim sighed under his breath.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled, only causing the voice to snort, not appearing to appreciate the apology at all.

"_You be quiet and stop acting like a complete idiot. You're not sorry, this little charade of your is letting you live for a little while longer, but make sure you get that through your head. A little while. Father will see through your plan. He will… I'm his first born. His Pride, understand? Earlier he must of… just not of been paying attention. You wont last long," _Pride growled, sounding nearly desperate. Selim didn't say anything back. He was right, after all. Selim wasn't sorry enough to turn himself up or anything like that. As for the part about Pride's father, well, he probably wouldn't take it well if Selim said anything to contradict him. He already seemed hurt.

A group of military officers came into the room at that time, causing Selim to look up out of his thinking. "Selim Bradley?" a man in the front of the group asked, and Selim nodded feebly. "Come with us," The black haired boy quickly followed the order, lead out of the station and into one of the cars, a few of the officers getting in with him.

It was strange. He hadn't been in a car since he'd come to this world. Closing his eyes, he tried to block out that memory. If only he hadn't been so stupid and stayed in the car with his mother, instead of running back home and being found by father. None of this would of happened, and he'd be safe at home right now.

He wasn't sure how long it had been when the car came to a stop. Looking out the window he saw what looked like a near perfect replica of his home. He hadn't ever seen the outside, he realized. They didn't give him much time to stare though, opening the car door and motioning for him to head towards the house. He obliged, suddenly getting very nervous. What would Moth- Pride's Mother say to him? For some reason that scared him more then meeting Father in the underground tunnels. It wasn't like Pride was going to help.

"_Just act sorry. Cry or something, whatever you would normally do,_" Selim nearly tripped over his own feet at that. Did Pride just…

"**What the? Pride, why are you helping me? You **_**want**_** me to get caught! You just said…**" Selim asked, completely dumbfounded at the sudden change in character. Pride simply tried to shrug it off though, rolling the eyes in his head.

"_I do want you to get caught, but I don't want you to ruin any more of our plans. Mother should stay oblivious to everything going on,"_ the voice explained, and Selim nodded slightly. He guess that made sense. Figuring he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Selim didn't ask anything else.

Once he entered the house, he was almost immediately smothered by something. He just stood in shock for a moment before realizing what it was. Okay, act like Pride acting like him. He can do this.

"M-mother?" he asked shakily, not really sure what else to do. He caught father, Wrath, staring at him from a little ways into the room suspiciously. A small wave of fear began building up inside him, which he quickly smothered. It wasn't his father, and acting like that would only raise suspicion.

Pride's mother didn't say anything, just continued to hug him and cry. He tried to hold back him own tears, but then he remembered Pride's words. Sure, he could have been lying to trick him, but Selim didn't think so. Plus, he would take any excuse he could to cry right now.

All this was managing to do was make him realize just how much he wanted to go back home, and how far he was willing to go to get there.

* * *

Yay, Selim is at Pride's home, and Pride is still moping. I actually had a dream about Pride last night. Well, actually, it was about me reading an FMA manga with Pride going on a train out of Central with Bradley and the Misses. He looked so tired and adorable, and he was annoying everyone on the train by banging things. My mind really needs to get a hobby.

Well, I hope you liked it, please review.


	23. Chapter 22

Hello my lovely readers. It's that time again, I have the motivation and chance to actually write a chapter. I've been trying not to go any longer then about a month for any of my stories, and have been pretty close to succeeding.

"_Pride Speaking"  
_"**Selim To Pride"**

Chapter 22

Selim sat on the couch in front of Mrs. Bradley, staring at the floor. After they'd finished crying they moved to another room. Selim had been staring down the entire time, not able to look anyone in the eyes, especially Mrs. Bradley or Fath- Wrath, a combination of shame and fear keeping him locked on the ground. What if they could tell he wasn't their 'son?' He didn't want to find out.

"Selim, dear, why? W-we were so worried," the older woman asked, and Selim nearly flinched at her voice. She did sound worried, he didn't want to lie to her. She seemed like such a nice lady, so much like her mother. Well, he guessed she was almost an exact copy of her, in a way.

"I-I'm sorry. I just… these people, they… they took me, and when I got away, I was… I was really, really scared. P-please don't be mad, I'm sorry…" the black haired boy mumbled, trying to keep a balance between how he really felt and not overacting. He just had no idea really how Pride would possibly act in a situation like this, so he just had to go with what felt right. Mrs. Bradley seemed to be buying it completely, which only made him feel worse for some reason, but he couldn't tell with Wrath. He didn't want to look at him and find out.

"Oh dear, we're not mad, we're not mad," the woman said, pulling him into yet another hug. He didn't protest or hug back, mainly slumped against her. All that crying had made him tired again. If he fell asleep now, he might be able to put off not having to talk one on one with King Bradley yet. He would hopefully just think it was part of the act anyway.

Not thinking it over any longer, it took only a few moments for the child to quickly go out cold. Mrs. Bradley didn't bother to let him go though, the room nearly silent for the next ten minutes. When that was finally broken, it was King who'd done it.

"Well, I'd best start the search for those men Selim had mentioned," the tall man said, striding towards the door. He half expected him wife to protest and attempt to make him stay with his 'son' for a while longer, so he was slightly surprised when she simply nodded instead, not taking her eyes away from the sleeping form of the child in her arms.

"Yes, it's best that they be found, isn't it?" she said in a quiet, calm voice. There wasn't any obvious malice or anger there, but King could sense the underlying threat to the men who kidnapped her 'son' in those words. The homunculus had to resist the urge to chuckle at the scene. What was it that they called it? Ah yes, a typical mama bear, that's what it was.

Mrs. Bradley wasn't sure how long she stayed in that position after her husband left before scooping up the worn out boy gently, walking him to his room. She made extra care not to wake him, not after everything he'd been through. Poor boy deserved his sleep. She had to try and keep herself from breaking out into tears as she watched him. She'd thought she'd lost him, he'd been gone so long. He was here now though, that's all that mattered. Although, she wasn't about to let him out of her sights again, that was for sure.

The next morning, Selim was highly confused as to where he was, but didn't complain in the least. He couldn't even remember the last time he slept on a real bed, and he wasn't about to leave it anytime soon. As the sun filtered in through the curtains to the room, memories of what was happening slowly started to filter back into his head through his sleep dazed state.

He was at Pride's home, and he had an act to keep up. Regretfully, he pushed himself off the comforting bed before changing into a new set of clothes. Clean clothes! He didn't think he'd ever wear clean clothes again. He hadn't even had time to change yesterday, having fallen asleep too quickly. Once dressed, he started at himself in a mirror hanging on the wall. It was on the opposite place from where his back home was. He really was dirty, even after changing, he desperately needed a bath. Running a hand through his hair, he turned to head out of the room.

It didn't take long at all before he ran into Mrs. Bradley. She seemed so happy to see him, hugging him in greeting. Selim ignored the pang of guilt that washed over him yet again as he started talking.

"H-hello mother, is it alright if I took a bath? I fell asleep yesterday before I could," he asked, smiling up at her cheerfully. He hoped he wasn't acting too cheerful, but if he was she didn't seem to notice. He didn't think he had to worry about her noticing anything, really. It wasn't that she didn't care about Pride, it was the opposite, actually. She would do anything for him, and was almost blinded by happiness in the fact that he was back and safe.

"**Pride, how could you?**" he asked, thoughts completely contradicting the joyous expression on his face. He didn't get an answer from the sin however, the voice choosing to remain silent at the moment.

"Of course you can dear! You head there right now and I'll make sure you'll have a fresh outfit for when you're done," the older woman said kindly. He didn't care so much if it was out of character or not, Selim quickly giving her a hug before she could leave. There wasn't anyone here that he needed to watch out for anyway, and he really missed his own mother right now.

"Thank you…" he whispered, before running off to the bathroom. He didn't stay long enough to see what her reaction was, but like he thought before, she really had no reason or drive to be suspicious of him, not like the others.

Stepping into the water, he started scrubbing as much as he could, almost completely coated in just a layer of grime. He was kind of surprised that Pride hadn't yelled at him for getting his 'container' dirty, but he guessed the inhuman child had other, more important things to worry about. Sighing slightly to himself, the black haired boy tried to give another attempt at speaking with him.

"**Pride? You do care about her, right?**" Selim asked, rubbing shampoo through his hair for the second time. He'd almost given up on the sin answering when the voice finally started to echo in his head.

"_I don't see how that is relevant to anything. My task is to act as her son, and that is what I do,_" Selim shook his head though, having expected an answer like that if he was going to get one at all. Grimacing at the now brown water, he tried to ignore it in favor of pursuing the topic now that Pride had spoke.

"**I know that's what you're suppose to do for your father, but that doesn't mean you can't, I don't know, enjoy it,**" he suggested, earning a bit of a scoff from the sin. That of course couldn't change the feeling of relief Selim had felt emanating from Pride when they first saw her again, or the mild annoyance he felt from the fake child at being pretty much found out.

"_I said it doesn't matter. I may care for her,"_ Selim blinked in surprise to himself at that, he hadn't thought Pride would just admit it to him like that. Either he really didn't care at this point whether or not he knew, or he just knew he couldn't hide it, "_but that wont factor into anything. She'll die just as the rest of you humans when Father's plan comes to completion, and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. I wouldn't want to at any rate," _Selim wasn't sure if it was just his inability to believe that someone wouldn't want to save his own mother or mixed feelings he was picking up from Pride that made his disbelieve that last part.

"**Pride, you can't mean that. If you care about her, then of course you would want her to not die, or then you really don't care,**" the black haired boy protested as he stepped out of the tub, quickly wrapping himself in a towel once he did. Again, it took the sin a moment before finally answering.

"_Then it seems I don't really care about her,_" he nearly mumbled, only causing Selim to sigh again, frowning to himself. He knew Pride didn't mean that, but it didn't seem like it would do much good to argue with him. He was just too loyal to that Father of his, and for the life of him Selim couldn't see why. Mrs. Bradley obviously cared more about him then that man even seemed capable of, why did he deserve Pride's service and devotion more then her?

Reaching his, well, Pride's room, he quickly changed into the fresh outfit that the older woman had left out for him, thankful beyond belief at finally feeling truly clean since he left.

Realizing for the first time that day that he was hungry, he made his way to the dining room, nearly getting lost a few times. There were several slight differences in the house plan, and he just hadn't been there in so long, his faded memory combined with it made it take a bit longer then he would of liked.

Mrs. Bradley was waiting for him in the room, and he smiled warmly at her as he stepped through the doorway. She already had more food then he thought he could ever eat laid out on the table, and didn't waste any time in ushering him over. They were the only two in the room at the time, and for that he was grateful.

"Come here dear, eat up. You must be starving, you fell asleep before eating last night," the woman explained, and Selim simply nodded as he stared at the food. She was right, he was hungry, although he wasn't sure if he would call it starving. You think going without food for the times that he had it would be worse for him, but that must of just been Pride's inhuman body working for his advantage again.

As they ate, they talked quite a bit, tending to stay away from what had happened since he left, both feeling content in pretending it never happened. Of course, Selim was pretending much more then she was, but she didn't need to know that, not at all.

"Oh yes, you're father promised to be home as soon as possible in order to see you. He went to make sure that those men responsible for all of this get found and punished," Mrs. Bradley said, and Selim nodded, food currently in his mouth. Okay, so he definitely didn't want to see Wrath, but there was no way for him to actually show that. Pride would be happy to see him.

"That's great mother! I can't wait!," he spouted cheerfully. He managed to keep up the act almost as flawlessly as before that announcement, any slip ups he blamed on fatigue. Wrath would probably want to talk to him alone as soon as possible, and he had to be ready for that. Of course, as long as he didn't burst into tears, he should be okay. He'd changed since he last met with the Further, he almost didn't recognize himself.

Tricking him was just one more step on keeping his safety in check as he planned a way out of this mess. It wouldn't be that hard, or at least, that's what he told himself, anyway.

* * *

And it's done, and I'm not pulling an April fools either. Huh, I always end up updating all of my stories in short succession of each other, then waiting some undetermined amount of time before doing it again. You think it would be easier to spread it out, but once I start writing, I just want to keep going, and get them all done.

Well, please review.


	24. Chapter 23

Hiya. Another chapter from me. Sorry about being a little late yet again on this, but it's spring break now (does happy dance) so I should have more time to update everything in between studying for my AP exams (my hardest one the second day we get back, no worries there)

Chapter 23

After eating with Mrs. Bradley, Selim quickly excused himself to his room, giving the reasoning that he was still tired and wished to rest before father came home. The older woman let him go without any sort of fuss, although Selim could tell that she didn't exactly like the idea of him being out of her sight, and he couldn't really blame her. He was still extremely grateful once he was able to close the door to Pride's room, now alone and able to at least attempt and think of some sort of vague plan for when Wrath came.

He tried to tell himself that it was the same as it had been with Greed, but it wasn't, really. He lived with Pride, he probably knew more about how the sin acted and would be able to spot any sort of mistake quicker then the Xing man would. He would definitely have to be extra careful.

Sitting down on the large bed, Selim soon stood back up again. He couldn't sit still, the anticipation of King Bradley returning weighing on his mind too greatly. The black haired boy quickly tried to find something in the room that would occupy his mind before he started to psyche himself out before the older man even showed up.

There was a bookcase against one of the walls of the bedroom. Selim hadn't taken much note of it before, but now decided it could be of great use to preoccupy him as he waited. It looked a lot like the one he had back at home, really.

Walking up next to the bookcase, he started looking over the title of the books on the shelf closest to eyelevel. A few of the books were beginner guides to alchemy, placing a question in the boy's head he hadn't thought to consider before.

"Hey Pride?" he asked to the open air, temporarily forgetting about the guards outside his door and that it would probably be a better idea to keep the thoughts in his mind, but Pride didn't bother to correct him.

"_What is it?_" the sin asked, an irritated tone to his voice, not that Selim had any doubt about what was annoying him. Ignoring it, he went straight to the question, this time remembering to keep it in his head.

"**Can you do alchemy?**" the black haired boy thought as he pulled out one of the books on just that, slowly flipping through it as he waited for Pride's answer. He didn't have to wait very long, the sin deciding for once to actually answer one of his questions quickly.

"_No," _he didn't elaborating any farther then that, causing Selim to frown slightly to himself in confusion as he took the book back over to the bed. He had read an alchemy book in bed the morning of his birthday… That was so long ago now…

"**Why do you have books on it then? Are you learning?**" he couldn't do more then skim while talking to Pride, having to put his full focus into trying to understand the complex meanings and equations that went into the complicated science. He understood more then most children his age, but he still was far from being able to actually go through with a transmutation. He was a bright child yes, but he knew he was no prodigy.

"_It's a part of my act. I can't wait for the day when I grown up and become a state alchemist in order to help my father,_" Selim easily noted the dull sarcasm dripping from Pride's voice in the latter part of his explanation. It didn't really help him much hearing it though, his mind too caught up in the irony. That had been his dream, before he had died…

Selim sighed under his breath as he closed the book on his lap. Being here was making his homesickness increase quite a bit. When on the run he could just ignore it all and focus on trying to stay alive, but here every little thing proceeded to remind him of the world he left behind.

"_What's wrong now?"_ Pride asked after a moment, that irritated tone still emanating throughout his voice and around Selim's head. The black haired boy really couldn't tell why the sin was asking him that anyway. Was he actually concerned about the child, or was he just looking for some sort of crack in order to work his way back in control of the body? Selim couldn't tell, Pride was just too confusing, he couldn't figure him out unless he spent some time using his full focus. Like Alchemy.

"Nothing, just a little homesick…" he whispered, too quietly for anyone outside the door to hear but knowing full well that the voice inside his head could just fine. He didn't need to elaborate any farther then that, and Pride didn't ask him to, thankfully. Although it was probably more out of a lack of interest then any actual care for Selim on the sin's part.

It wasn't too much longer after that when Mrs. Bradley peaked in through a crack she opened in the door. By now Selim had the book back open, but was only half reading the words, none of them truly processing in his head.

"Selim, dear. Your father's home, and he wants to see you," the older woman said, and Selim looked up towards her with a smile on his face. Time to let the acting begin again.

"Really, mother? Where is he?" the child asked happily, quickly pushing himself off the bed in order to go and meet the man he so feared right now.

"He's in his study waiting for you," she said, opening the door a bit wider and moving out of the way for her son, who appeared oh so excited to see his father again. Just like he always was. Like none of the horrors that must of plagued him during his time running and hiding away from kidnappers and the authorities ever happened.

Selim quickly reached the door to the president's private study, standing outside for just a moment as he took one final chance to steel his nerves. He could _do_ this. He's already fooled all the other homunculi he'd met, their leader and Mrs. Bradley. He could fool just one more person.

"You wanted to see me father?" Selim asked as he walked into the room, figuring Pride would want to keep up his 'act' until he knew it was safe, so he should too.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure you were alright from your… experiences during your disappearance," the older man asked, looking up from the papers on his desk and in his hand with his one good eye. Selim smiled brightly as he nodded, rolling a bit on his heals for good measure. He might have been overdoing it, but from the way Pride spoke of his 'act' he seemed much more outgoing then how Selim himself usually was.

"Of course I am Father! It was quite an experience like you said, but it wasn't _that_ scary. I knew that you would save me before anything _too_ bad happened," he said, trying to keep a cheerful, carefree tone to his voice as he tried to figure out when to break his first act and go to the second. Hopefully Wrath would do it first so that he didn't have to worry about that, but what if he didn't? How long should he wait before it started getting suspicious. As per usual Pride was absolutely no help here.

"Yes well, we are all so glad to have you back and safe, and as for the kidnappers… what do _you _think the chances are of them returning, so to speak?" the latter part of that sentence had been directed at Pride, not 'Selim' and the child tried to make himself look more confident, sinister, like he imagined Pride to look. It had worked on the other homunculi and 'Father' but Selim couldn't help but worry inside if it was all wrong. Back then it he had already been a dead man, here he had a chance to live if he didn't mess up.

"None, the 'kidnapper' had given up all hope once he was successfully captured. I trust that you have been adequately filled in on the details?" the black haired boy asked, and Wrath nodded, looking much more serious then he had when they had been going about their little act.

Selim was actually managing to impress himself with his self control. The last time he'd seen this man, it took everything he had to just keep from busting into tears at merely being in the same room together. Here he was now speaking and acting confident. Sure, he was still shaking on the inside, but it was the outside that counted right now.

"Good, is there anything else you wished to discuss?" Selim asked, still using his Pride voice. It really was strange, hearing the sin's voice coming out if himself, but he guessed it wasn't really his mouth in the end.

King Bradley seemed to think the question over for a moment before answering, "No, nothing right now. Either myself or one of the others will fill you in with any plans that were changed or completely while you were… away," Selim nodded, glad that he didn't have to deal with trying to act as though he understood exactly whatever evil plan they had was. "For now though," Wrath continued, his voice returning to that of his cheerful act, "you should rest, you've been through quite the ordeal."

Selim smiled brightly again, putting his hands behind his back as he returned to rocking on the balls of his feet. He had no idea if this was something Pride would do, it sure wasn't one of his habits, but it had instinctively come on as part of his act, and Wrath didn't seem to question it.

"As you wish father! Thank you!" Selim cheerfully said before turning towards the door and leaving the room, almost running into his mother as she came down the same hallway. The black haired boy tried to keep up the same mask for her, but this happy act was definitely wearing on him.

"Hello Mother! Are you going to see father?" he asked, and the older woman nodded. Selim didn't stay much longer after that, quickly returning to his room where he could drop the mask for at least a few moments. Mrs. Bradley watched her son walked down the rest of the hallway before continuing her way to her husband's study. There was something wrong here…

"Dear, is it alright if I come in?" the older woman asked as she stepped into the room. King Bradley nodded, looking up at his wife as he placed several papers down.

"Of course Larissa, is something the matter?" he asked and she nodded, although waiting until she had taken a seat on the bench against the far wall of the room before explaining exactly what it was that was bothering her.

"King, I think theirs something wrong with Selim," Larissa said, and Wrath raised an eyebrow in question. Pride again? This was definitely starting to be quite a bother. Now he hadn't been alive for as long as some of the other homunculus, but Wrath was certain that the oldest and most deadly of the sins had never been this much trouble before. Why now, so close to the promise day and the fulfillment of all their hard work and planning?

"Selim? What do you mean? He seemed fine when I just spoke to him. It's like the kidnapping never happened," the older man said, and to his surprise his wife nodded.

"That's what I mean. He doesn't even seem fazed by the months he's spent all alone, being kidnapped and who knows what else happened to the poor boy! Not to mention how strange he'd been acting right before the kidnapping as well. What if he's trying to suppress it all, that can't be good for him," Mrs. Bradley said, and Wrath was a bit at a loss for words. He hadn't considered the fact that Pride probably should be acting a bit traumatized, and apparently neither had Pride.

"Yes, I see what you mean…" King started, trying to sound like the concerned father he was suppose to be while hiding his irritation at Pride for not considering this part of his human act. He was suppose to be a child, not a war-hardened veteran.

"What do you think we should do. I don't want to force it out of him, but I don't want him to bottle everything inside himself either," Larissa asked, and Wrath had to think for a moment. What would a normal parent do in this sort of situation?

"Just let him rest for now. We'll talk to him about it tomorrow. I'll try to find a good child psychologist for him, I'm sure it will all be fine. He's a strong boy," King said, and was relieved at seeing his wife nod in agreement. Pride was probably going to hate him for the child psychologist, but it was the only choice he had in order for their 'act' to remain realistic. What parent who had the money _didn't_ seek psychiatric help when their child was put through the 'horrors' that Pride had faced?

In any case, he'd tell the old sin tomorrow. Maybe he could just hire someone working for father to pose as one, but that would be too much work if his wife insisted on helping with the selection, which she most likely would. Ah well, Pride could deal with it. As long as he kept up his act, everything would go according to plan.

There just couldn't be anymore slip ups, although Wrath had no idea at the time how ironic that particular thought was.

* * *

And it's done. I had reread a few of my earliest chapters, particularly chapter 3 where Selim first comes to the manga world. He's sure taken a level of badass since then, hasn't he? At least, I hope that's what it is and not character derailment. He's just had to get at least a bit more confident or else he wouldn't of lasted long at all.

Well, I hope you like this chapter, and please review.


	25. Chapter 24

Hiya everybody. Fixed my computer charger, took my AP exams, school's almost over and I've officially planned out the ending of this story. It's still a while away though, since this will probably have around 35 chapter, and an epilogue, but hurray for plans.

Also, huzzah! This story has officially gotten over 10,000 hits! It makes me very happy, and this is the most successful story I've had so far. Well, on with the chapter.

Chapter 24

The next morning, Selim awoke in Pride's comfortable bed with the sun shining in his eyes. It still sent a small wave of confusion over him for a few seconds, but it quickly subsided. After changing into a fresh set of day clothes, the black haired boy sat back down on the bed. He didn't want to head downstairs yet and have to put on his act, plus, there was something he wanted to think about.

He couldn't stay here forever. Pride would remind him of that very quickly if he ever got too comfortable. He just wanted to go home, but how was he suppose to do that? He still had no clue what the white figure was that sent him here, or better yet, why. Not only that, but his only leads were a group of apparently evil beings bent on world domination and a pair of brothers he had no chance of seeing at the moment.

So what could he do? Running away again wouldn't get him anywhere, but staying too long and being discovered would get him killed. There had to be some sort of solution, but he couldn't see it.

"Selim, are you awake?" Selim tried not to immediately spring into the air at the sound of his 'father's' voice at the door. Quickly attempting to regain control, he tried to make his voice sound as light as possible given the slight blindside knocking a bit of the wind out of him.

"Yes father, is something the matter?" he asked as he walked over to the door, opening it to reveal the tall, gruff man in uniform. He was smiling down at him, and shook his head kindly. Selim didn't trust it in the least though, and tried to ignore the shiver running up his spine at being so close to the man.

"Not at all, my boy. There was just something I wished to talk to you about for a moment," Bradley said as he walked into the room, shutting the door and locking it behind him. The black haired boy quickly made sure to get out of his way as he stepped inside, immediately noticing the locked door and attempting to calm himself down. He probably just wants to talk to Pride about plans and such, there's no reason to think they found anything out.

Selim momentarily wondered about the voice in his head. He'd been silent since he woke up. He usually made comments when Selim was trying to think of an escape plan, but hadn't this time. Maybe he was still asleep, although the nine year old for the life of him still didn't understand how that was suppose to work.

"About what? I didn't do anything wrong, did I father?" Selim asked cautiously. He really didn't want to be talking with Wrath. He was never sure which persona to use, especially when they were alone like this. He had to be perfect. Any slip ups could cost him his life. Whatever was left of it, that is.

"Pride," the older looking man started, and Selim quickly dropped his first act for his second,, turning his worried smiled into a irritated frown. They still thought he was Pride, that wasn't the problem. They probably just wanted to go over plans, and he just had to pretend to know what he was talking about. "You seem to have made a slight mistake with incorrectly assuming the mentality of a human child," The black haired boy tried desperately to not let the panic bubbling inside him appear noticeable. Just play along, maybe it's not what you think.

"A mistake? Exactly what do you mean by that, Wrath?" he asked, copying the same irritated tone Pride would use on him nearly perfectly. Just act annoyed. Act arrogant. How dare he imply you could mess up, you're Pride.

"Your… mother, has worried that 'Selim' is attempting to repress the 'horrors' that happened during you're little outing, due to the cheery behavior you've had since your return," Bradley explained, and Selim frowned in what seemed to be anger. He had messed up, but they still thought it was Pride. He had to be even more careful.

"I see… and you're plans to remedy this mishap?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to come up with a way to fix this himself.

"I've talked to her, and she doesn't wish to force anything out of you, so simple lies should be sufficient, but she does want you to see a psychiatrist," Selim twisted his face into a look of extreme annoyance. There was no way Pride would be perfectly alright with this, no way at all.

"And you _agreed?" _he asked, keeping his voice sounding absolutely incredulous. Wrath nodded, somewhat reluctantly, before quickly launching into an explanation. He didn't want to get Pride angry, and Selim didn't blame him. If he was able to escape from Greed using his powers, then he could only imagine how deadly the sin must be with them, actually having full control and confidence.

"Yes, but only because it would jeopardize father's plan if our act we're to be found out, and this would definitely seem unordinary," Bradley said, and Selim reluctantly nodded. Pride cared about his 'father's' plan more than anything, Selim had figured that out long ago. Apparently so had Wrath, seeing as he strategically used it in his defense. If Pride was willing to act like a normal human child for father, then he would go to therapy for father as well. Even if Selim wasn't entirely sure if everything Pride did was an act. There had to be a bit of truth, or it wouldn't be so convincing.

"Alright… when should I expect this to start?" Selim asked after a slight hesitation. Therapy was bad. If he went there, the psychiatrist was bond to figure out something was wrong. That was they're whole job.

"Tomorrow, it shouldn't take very long to find someone sufficient enough for the job," Bradley said, and the black haired boy nodded absently. Tomorrow was so soon… Before he was able to get lost in thought, Wrath cleared his throat to speak again. "Well, it is best that we head down to breakfast before people start to worry," he said, in a voice slightly lighter and more cheer filled then before. Selim plastered a smile on his face before nodding enthusiastically.

"Of course Father. Let's go," he said happily, heading out of the room after the tall man. Breakfast had been as normal as Selim thought it could get in his current situation. Now that he was told, he could see some of the underlying worry in Moth- Mrs. Bradley's face whenever he gave her a large smiled or laughed.

After they were done, Bradley headed off to work, and Selim quickly excused himself to his room. No one objected, he wasn't going to start up schooling again for a little while, and Mrs. Bradley seemed too concerned to do anything.

Once alone the boy sighed quietly. Tomorrow his acting would have to be spot on. No mistakes. He had to _be _Pride. To be perfect…

Laying down on the bed, the silence inside his head was starting to bother him. Pride hadn't said anything all day. It was almost starting to worry him.

"**Hey Pride? You okay?**" He asked, hoping to get a reply. He wasn't even sure why, but a small rush of relief went through him at the sound of the arrogant voice in his head scoffing at him in disdain. He shouldn't worry about the monster child in his head, but for some reason he did. He was just too nice.

"_Why are you asking?"_ Pride questioned, and Selim frowned up at the ceiling. He was glad he got an answer, but it wasn't exactly one he was looking for.

"**Answer my question first,**" the black haired child demanded, earning a sarcastic sounding laugh from the sin.

"_Exactly who do you think you are to be bossing me around, human?_" Pride asked bitterly, but Selim simply tried to shrug it off. He was used to this sort of behavior from Pride by now, not that he was too happy about that. He really shouldn't be getting so accustomed to the voice in his head, if he ever got to go home, it wouldn't be there anymore.

"**The person in complete control of your body and the situation,**" Selim said, and he could almost feel Pride's mouth snapping shut. He had to admit, that had surprised even himself. He wasn't usually so… forward. It was probably just the stress of the situation getting to him. After a few moments Pride finally spoke again.

"_None of that matters. You still don't control me, I will not listen to anybody but Father,_" the sin said, and Selim sighed. He just wanted to know if Pride was okay, he'd been so quiet all morning. It didn't look like he was going to get an answer though, so the black haired boy decided to drive his attention towards other problems. He had to figure out what to do about the psychiatrist and eventually getting home. He couldn't solve anything just laying here though.

The Elric brothers were his best chance of finding out how to get to that white figure, they knew who he was talking about, and even though they said they didn't know how to get there, it was better then waiting here to eventually be discovered and destroyed. He couldn't just leave though, that would give him away for sure.

"_So fickle… just decide already,_" Pride mumbled, startling Selim somewhat. There was definitely something wrong with the sin, but Selim had no idea what, besides the usual situation of being at the complete control of such a 'lesser' being as himself. Thinking it over yet again in his head, the black haired boy sat up in bed and started staring out the window.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked aloud, almost positive there was no one around to here him. He could sense Pride's surprise at the question, but the sin quickly masked it, like always.

"_What possible reason could you have to want to ask _me _that?"_ the sin asked, and Selim wasn't sure. He shrugged slightly, leaning against the windowsill as he thought it over.

"**I just want to know**," the child decided finally, causing Pride to metaphorically roll his eyes, not that Selim minded much. He knew it was a stupid question, but he just really needed another person's opinion, even if that person wanted to have him destroyed in the end. It actually took Pride some time to finally answer, Selim rather surprised that he actually seemed to be thinking it over. Sure, he was probably trying to think of which one would get his free soonest, but for some reason Selim didn't care.

"_You should leave and try to find the Elrics,_" he said, and the black haired boy was quiet for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

"Alright," he said aloud, standing up off the bed and putting on a pair of shoes. Pride was shocked silent for a few minutes before finally snapping out of it, completely dumbfounded.

"_What do you mean, alright? Why in the world are you listening to me?_" the sin demanded, not even attempting to hide the confusion in his voice. Pride opened his bedroom window before climbing out, very thankful that it was on the ground floor, something that wasn't the case back home.

"Because I want to go home, and this is my only chance…" Selim said quietly as he stalked through the yard towards the fence before walking up and down it quickly. There had to be some sort of hole or opening, something like back home…

Pride was silent the entire time, until Selim was able to find a hole in the fence behind several bushed, just the right size to fit though. It wasn't like the small boy wanted to be back on the streets, struggling to survive, but he didn't have a choice… He didn't… Even if the psychiatrics or father or any of the homunculus found out who he really was, it still wouldn't get him back home… and he was starting to reconsider his earlier assumption about moth- Mrs. Bradley not noticing who he was. Even if Pride was lying to her, she could still tell the difference between the sin's lies and his.

Running quickly down the streets, Selim tried to put as much distance between himself and Pride's house. He had to get far, far away as quick as he possibly could… or else he might be tempted to go back.

* * *

Yay, new chapter. Selim is once again on the run, and Pride is moody and confused. I hope his decision to leave didn't seem too sudden or out of character. I tried to make it make sense… it does in my head.

Well, please review.


	26. Chapter 25

Hurray, new chapter not too late. Only have about two weeks of school left, but the teachers have decided to make these two weeks complete and utter hell with the amount of work loaded on us, and yet I take a break to write of all things.

Chapter 25

When Selim finally stopped walking, he was lost but rather used to that by now. It was probably better then he didn't know where he was, or else he most likely wouldn't of been far enough away.

"… _it doesn't make any sense… I don't understand you…"_ Pride had been mumbling to himself for a while now, and the black haired boy wasn't too sure on how to answer him. It really didn't make sense what he was doing. Not even to him. He just had to get away from that house before someone found out who he really was. "_But now they'll definitely know… are you trying to get killed?"_ the voice asked, and Selim shook his head.

"You know that's not it," he said aloud, continuing down the sidewalk. The city around him was becoming more and more sketchy the farther he went, but it didn't bother him as much as it had the first time he ran. He knew how to protect himself now. It was strange how Pride's powers were able to give him just enough confidence to not be a spineless wimp. It kind of bothered him though. If he ever got back home, would he just turn back into how he was before all this happened after a while? He hoped not.

"_Then what is it, because right now your stories are not matching up,_" Pride asked, and Selim could only shrug as the answer escaped him.

"I just… didn't want to stay there anymore…" he mumbled, staring down at the clean shoes he was wearing. Knowing how things had turned out last time, they probably wouldn't stay that way for very long, that or anything he else was wearing, actually. Sighing to himself at Pride's sudden silence, he started forward yet again, since it was the only thing he could do.

Walking around the increasingly narrowing alleys, Selim was starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not. While he was more likely to be seen and recognized in the more hospitable parts of the city, the exits from the tunnel had led to places similar to this. There were pros and cons to each. Really he should just leave the city again, but he still wanted to find the Elric brothers.

The Elric brothers. Maybe he should just focus on finding them and ignore everything else for now. It wasn't a very safe plan, but it was the only one he had at the moment.

"Um, Pride? Do you have any idea where the Elrics could be?" he asked, thinking back to the last time he'd seen the two brothers. It hadn't even been in Central, but there wasn't a very high chance that they were in the same place he'd left them when he allowed himself to be kidnapped. He'd heard stories about the famous two, they never stayed in the same place for very long.

"_How would I have any more of an idea then you would?_" the sin asked in response, and Selim was quiet for a few moments. He kind of had a point. Okay then, he'd just have to find them the same way he did the first time, searching and following every clue he could possibly find. Hopefully he'd have enough time to before he was caught again.

Well, it was now well past noon, at least he was pretty sure it was, and he still wasn't all too sure on what he was going to do next. What if he left Central and the Elrics turned out to be here the entire time? Okay, no leaving until he was positive that they weren't here. How long that would take, he had no idea.

Selim started turning away from the more rundown parts of town to the kinder looking ones. That was where anybody sensible would be, right? At the very least he couldn't think of any reason why he would run into the Elrics in a place like this.

He made sure to keep his head down whenever he was around any large crowds of people, but continued to constantly look for any sighs of the only leads he had. It was getting later though, and the people at Pride's home were bound to notice soon enough that he was no longer there. Again.

It was when he was searching around for a safe place to hide and wrap himself in one of those strange, shadowy cocoons for the night that an eerie sensation kept causing him to turn around every few minutes. It felt like he was being watched, but if it was one of the other homunculi, why hadn't they come out by now?

"Pride…" Selim called out to the sin. It was dark now, and the feeling wouldn't go away. Someone was there, and it was giving him the creeps. He could sense the voice's attention on him, and he looked around the dark shadows that surrounded him. He was standing right under a streetlight, and severely hoped that it didn't go out. Pride's powers didn't work in complete darkness.

"_What is it?"_ he asked, and Selim scanned the area again before answering.

"**I don't think it's a homunculus**," the child answered, inside his head for the first time in a while. He didn't want whoever was out there to hear him, especially if it actually was a homunculi. He could tell that it caught the sin's attention all the same.

"_Really now? Then we ought to find out exactly who our little rat is, shouldn't we?_" Pride asked, an almost amused tone to his voice for the first time in what seemed like forever. Selim had to keep himself from wincing at the sin's use of the word rat, memories of his so called father springing up in his head.

"R-right," he said shakily, before lifting his head to stare intently into the darkness. Whoever it was had the disadvantage, not him. He just had to keep reminding himself of that as he worked up enough courage to call out into the night. "W-whose there? Come out now!" he yelled, allowing for the shadows to leak out around him just a tiny bit, incase whoever it was tried to attack.

Footsteps sounded to the left of the frightened child, and he quickly spun in there direction. When the figure came into focus out of the dark, Selim had to blink a few times in surprise and confusion. It was a woman… and she looked kind of familiar. From the sneering he heard from Pride, it was obvious he knew who this was, but for some reason whoever it was wouldn't leave the tip of Selim's tongue.

"W-who are?- Ahh!" Selim wasn't able to finish his question, the recognition finally hitting him full force, and he nearly fell back in shock. It was her! The woman who'd come to his house the night he died! Her glaring amber eye were filled with confusion as he gapped at her in fear. He could feel Pride's shame at this pathetic act, but he really didn't care at the moment.

After a few moments he was able to regain a bit of control and wipe the shocked look from his face. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at her, reminding himself that this wasn't really her, just a copy of the person he knew. Just like everyone else.

"Who are you?" he finally managed to ask, mentally slapping himself at her confused expression and remembering that Pride had apparently known her from the way he reacted. Oh well, there was no used covering it now, and he was running away, so as long as this lady… he couldn't remember her name in his world, wasn't working with the homunculus, it didn't really matter.

"Just what are you playing this time?" the woman asked, and Selim shrugged slightly. It would probably be best if he didn't tell her too much. He really didn't have any idea on if he could trust her or anything, so it probably wasn't worth the risk, especially since she spent so long following him and freaking him out.

"I can't tell you that, sorry," he said, although she didn't seem to appreciate his apology. Well, if she still thought he was Pride, he didn't really blame her. Sighing to himself, it was probably best to just leave. "Look, I have to go now, can you please not tell anyone you saw me here?" he asked, and she just continued to stare at him, stunned and confused.

"_What in the world are you doing?"_ Pride asked, an exasperated tone to his voice.

"**I can't explain to her what's going on, and I don't know how she knows you to know how to act, so I'm not really doing anything,**" Selim explained, and Pride just rolled his interior eyes in defeat. There wasn't really any arguing with him, even if his choice of action was utterly idiotic.

The woman nodded slowly, and Selim smiled at her before turning away from her, continuing down the sidewalk and in search of a place to hide for the night. He no longer felt the woman's eyes on his back, but he had to remind himself he couldn't relax just because of that. His real threats were still out there, and by now they knew something was very, very wrong.

"Hey Pride, what was that woman's name anyway? I can't remember," the black haired boy asked once he found a decent place to hide for the night. Inside a large cardboard box surrounded by other boxes, thrown away in an alley behind a clothing store.

"_Riza Hawkeye, a military sniper woman,_" Pride said without much interest. Selim nodded before allowing the shadows to seep out around him, effectively covering him in their blackness and hiding him from view if anyone were to look inside.

He tried to get to sleep, but it was hard after having remembered what a real bed felt like. His mind started to wonder, until it eventually found itself on Pride, which really wasn't that unusual. He had gotten a bit more upbeat since they left the sin's home. It was strange, while he certainly wasn't happy, he was no longer silent and moody either.

"**Pride, I just don't get you sometimes,**" the child wondered, catching the sin's attention. He didn't seem too bothered by the questioning though, instead opting to simply shrug it off.

"_What is there to get?_" He asked, but Selim shook his head. There was a whole lot to get. Pride wasn't just the pure evil manipulative monster he tried to put out himself to be, and while it was easy for Selim to see what he wasn't, it was kind of hard to see what he was.

"**A lot, actually. Why were you so upset when we were back at your house and I was pretending to be you? I was this close to slipping up and being caught, but you seem happy that I left instead,**" Selim asked, hoping beyond hope that he would actually answer didn't of course, and instead Selim felt the sin's mood turn from it's normal neutral superiority to what felt like anger and sadness.

"_Just get to sleep,_" Pride growled, and the black haired boy sighed under his breath. There was definitely something bothering him about what had happened, but he couldn't figure out what, and Pride wasn't going to tell him.

"I thought you'd be happy to be home," Selim mumbled, and quickly felt what he associated with Pride rolling his eyes.

"_Of course… Happy. Why wouldn't I be happy about being utterly humiliated?_" the sin asked angrily. Selim frowned, he hadn't humiliated Pride. No one even noticed he was a different person, so what did he mean by that? "_You wouldn't understand…_" he mumbled, and the black haired boy sighed again.

"I guess I wouldn't," Selim said, feeling a bit defeated. He still couldn't say why, but he wanted to help Pride. He just wouldn't let him though, and the sin was a puzzle all his own.

Tightening the shadows slightly, the child tried to shift into a slightly more comfortable position. It wasn't really all that much better, but it would have to do. he'll continue his search in the morning, and hopefully he wont get caught right after finding the elusive Elrics again.

"Goodnight… Pride," Selim mumbled, getting a scoffing reply from the sin, who still seemed to be in a rather sore mood from the mention of Selim's time impersonating him.

"_Yes, goodnight. You're sleeping in a box and I'm still under the influence of an idiotic human child. A very good night," _he growled, and Selim choice to simply ignore him. He was right though, it wasn't a very good night at all.

He would just have to make sure that changed soon, and both himself and Pride could get an actually peaceful night of sleep. Even if it seemed impossible now.

* * *

And chapter done. I hadn't realized how close I was to the one year anniversary for this, it's next month. Gonna have to make a super exciting chapter for that, don't you think?  
Oh, about the timeline and Hawkeye already knowing who he is. I know it's messed up. If it was completely in cannon then GreedLing would have changed sides by now, or extremely close, and Ed and Al would be in the north. So I'm taking a bit of an artistic license, since I really wanted him to meet up with Hawkeye a bit.

Well, hoped you liked it, and please review.


	27. Bonus Chapter Sleepless Nights

Hello all! As you probably noticed from the chapter name, this isn't a normal chapter, but a bonus one. Why, you might ask? Well, this story has both officially reached 100 reviews, the first for any of my stories, ever (and Pride focused fics, as far as I know) and the one year anniversary is also right around the corner.

Since Attention2Detaille was the 100th reviewer, not to mention just an awesome person/writer in general and a total Pride fan, this chapter is from his point of view. A lot of the questions in her review are actually what inspired most of this chapter, so yay.  
Well, I hope you all like it.

Bonus Chapter - Sleepless Nights and Inner Thoughts

Pride sat in the strange space he had assumed long ago was the inside of his mind, or possibly more accurately, the inside of the head of his container. That foolish human

child that had mysteriously taken control of _his_ container what seemed like an eternity ago had fallen asleep, but the sin's mind would not allow him to do whatever constituted as sleep in his current form.

That pathetic human, Selim he called himself, was so idiotic. Pride didn't even know how he could possibly exist. Selim Bradley was just a fake identity father had made for him for when he was forced to partake in interactions with the human insects they ultimately controlled. It didn't make sense, but the being inside him insisted that was who he was, and so far Pride had no real proof to prove him wrong.

Sighing, the sin tried to figure out a way to regain control of his precious container for what seemed like the millionth time. That human simply did not understand the severity of the situation he was creating, and his questions and confusion were just salt in the wound of his already damaged, pardon the pun, pride. Why was he so upset back when they the little urchin had been 'acting' back at his temporary residence? He _wasn't._

The sin groaned and shut his eyes as the screams of the shadows around him flared up again. When _he_ used to be in control, he could ignore the damned souls fueling him constantly, but it this position, they sometimes managed to make their suffering known to the 'monster', as the called him, that brought them into this position. It'd been happening increasingly the longer he was forced to stay this way, and it made the sin wonder what would happen if he continued like this for too long.

That wouldn't happen though. Father would find out that this idiotic, idealistic, utterly _human_ child was not him and immediately fix him. He'd just gotten lucky before… Father must of just had a lot on his mind and didn't notice anything, the promised day was so close, and he'd been gone for so long, it was to be expected…

Pride didn't feel like opening his eyes anymore. He couldn't see anything on the outside since the child was asleep, and the only thing to look out on the inside was the twisting red souls swirling around, which wasn't exactly a pleasant thing. And that stupid child wondered why he was getting angrier as the days went by. He just had to keep his calm though. Father would fix this soon enough.

Sighing, the sin leaned back slightly. His body, or whatever it was he resided in now, felt so small, so weak. It wasn't a feeling he was used to, even when he was suppose to be acting as a human child. He hated it.

Of course, he hated everything about his current position. That he couldn't do anything about it. That the human actually seemed to have a plan. That he actually felt like he could do this, that he could win… That no one noticed it wasn't him… How could they not? How could _Father_ not? He was his first born, his _pride_, like he'd told the human Selim countless times now. He should have noticed…

The souls started their screams again and Pride growled and covered his ears, not that it was much use. They were always more active when the human slept. Their voices echoed around him mind, much like he imagined his voice sounded to the human, cursing him.

_Monster… beast… inhuman bastard…_ the more coherent ones would often repeat, and Pride let the insults roll off him. Or at least, he tried. It shouldn't bother him. It didn't. He was created by father, he was Pride and he was perfect, so it didn't matter what these disembodied souls, simple packs of energy now, thought of him.

The childlike sin closed his eyes tighter, and gradually the screams started to fade into the background, and he could relax again. He had to regain his container soon, it was absolutely suffocating in here.

And that human Selim. He didn't understand how important it was. Father had made him that container, and it without it he couldn't be of any use to him at all. It was the most important possession he had, and that child ran around and completely took it for granted, just like all humans.

Of course, he wasn't entirely like all humans. Cunning for a child, to say the least, since he managed to keep father and the other homunculi from noticing the truth for the moment. Only for a little bit though, and he hadn't managed to trick them, maybe the other homunculus, but not Father. No one could trick Father. He just hadn't noticed. He just wasn't paying attention. Because he was busy. No other reason.

A bit reluctantly, he started to think about that one question that the human had asked him earlier.

_Why were you so upset when we were back at your house and I was pretending to be you? I was this close to slipping up and being caught, but you seem happy that I left instead._

Pride growled to himself. He was not happy that he left instead, and he hadn't been upset while they were back at his home. His current position of residence, at least not for any unusual reason. He was just… it was just… it wasn't anything… He just… how could no one, _no one_, realize it wasn't actually him? He was Pride, he was more important then all of them, except for Father, of course… and yet, only Mother. Mrs. Bradley, had noticed anything wrong with him at all.

The sin opened his eyes, only to close them yet again. He wanted out, but for some reason more then that, he wanted… recognition. Surely the others would realize their mistake when they saw that he was once again missing, and understand how foolish they were for possibly mistaking a human for him.

Except for Father. Father wasn't foolish, or mistaken. He was only busy, and didn't have the time to focus on him enough to see something was amiss.

Father would give him all the time in the world once he was back in control, and the promised day was finally over and done with. For now, he would just have to wait for the human child to slip up just once, and he would be captured and dispelled from his body.

He just had to wait. Wait for control over his container. Wait for the promised day to come. Wait for Father to have time for him. Really, in his current position, all he could do was wait.

* * *

Hurray! I was actually able to complete a bonus chapter. I've just been on a writing stream lately. Wrote two chapters of another fanfic of mine last night, a drabble this morning, and now this, _and_ I have my two toughest finals first thing tomorrow… probably not my smartest move in the world, but ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

I hope you liked this, and please review.


	28. Chapter 26

It's the one year anniversary! Hurray! When I started this story, I didn't think that it would become as successful as it has, and I have all of you to thank. Over 12,118 hits, 34 favs, 41 alerts, 104 reviews and one bonus chapter. Yay. Thanks to everyone who's read this, it makes me happy that people like something I do, even if I mainly just do it for the fun. I just find it really cool that this is one of the most successful Pride stories, not that there are too many others I have to compete with, since besides Attention2Detaille's awesome story Sin's Child, there isn't really any other ongoing stories that update regularly.

Well, like I said, thanks for reading this, and here's the next chapter.

Chapter 26

Selim woke up rather early, the cardboard box that held him soggy and everything around him having a rather damp feel. Pulling the shadows back into him, he crawled out and quickly stood up. The cobblestone street was wet, and the entire city seemed grey and drizzling. It wasn't the best way to start off the day, but there wasn't anything he could do about his damp clothes or hair as he started away from his nightly hiding place before someone saw him.

There weren't many people out on the streets, it was still rather early. Everyone who was out walked fast to wherever it was they needed to go, and almost everyone had an umbrella in their hand. Selim walked with his head down, trying to set out a plan for the day as he kept himself on the move. There was no doubt that Pride's mother was a worried wreak with his second disappearance, and that she would have the whole city turned upside down to find him.

He had to find the Elrics. He'd already decided that, but now he had to figure out a way to actually do it. He suppose he could ask around, but it was hard to know who to ask that wouldn't recognize him and try and turn him in. He could always fight his way away if it came down to it, but he really didn't want to use Pride's powers in public if he didn't need to.

The rain was coming down even harder now, and less and less people were wondering the streets. Selim had been out in the rain a few times during his little travel, but he hadn't liked it those times, and he wasn't liking it now. There wasn't much chance of finding someone to ask about the Elrics now, so it would probably be best to just find a place out of the rain to hide.

"Pride, do you know anyplace to hide?" he asked quietly, hoping that maybe the voice could think of something. Selim hadn't traveled around much back home, and even if he had, he needed a place without anybody else.

"_There's always the tunnels underneath Central… but I doubt you want to go there,_" Pride suggested, but Selim shook his head. There wasn't anyway he was going to go down there, that close to the people he was trying to hide from. _"Well then, I don't know,_" the sin said, and Selim sighed under his breath. It was getting cold, it was well into fall by now.

After nearly ten more minutes of walking he was drenched to the bone and had yet to find anyplace suitable to get out of this rain. He didn't think that he was as cold or weak as he would be in his real body, since Pride's body, well, container seemed to be stronger all around.

"Ouff- sorry mister," the black haired boy said, quickly glancing up at a tall man in a pure white suite holding an umbrella, and then back down at the ground before walking away fast. He hadn't meant to look up, hopefully the man didn't recognize him.

"_Kimblee?"_ Selim heard Pride mumble inside his mind, a surprised tone to his voice. Selim stopped and looked back towards the man in the white suite, who wasn't walking anymore.

"**You know him?**" the black haired boy asked as he looked the man over. He couldn't really tell much about him. He didn't give off a scary vibe like Envy, but it wasn't friendly like Mr. Al's, or kinda trusting like Greed's. Selim knew he should leave as soon as he possibly could if this was someone Pride knew, but was stopped for just a moment by his curiosity.

"_Yes, although he's never actually seen my container. I do not think he's been revealed my identity,_" the sin said, and Selim accidentally locked eyes with the strange man. He didn't know who Pride really was, but he could very well know who the president's son is, and he still had every reason to leave. He was staring at him now though, and smirked. A friendly, but almost cold smile.

"Well, I do believe that you are the famous, and as of last night one again missing Selim Bradley," the man, apparently named Kimblee said as he walked towards the young boy. Selim nodded hesitantly. He seemed friendly, but he had no idea what he was capable of. Pride knew him, but he didn't know how or why. If he tried to run, he could very well be caught since he had no clue what he was dealing with.

"**Pride, friend or enemy?**" Selim asked as he took a step back. The sin scoffed slightly in his mind, although thankfully, and a bit unsuspectedly, he answered.

"_He's my ally, not my friend,_" he said, and Selim nodded as he stared up at the man, who now started to bend down in front of him.

"Why don't we get you home? I work for your father, and I'm sure your parents are worried sick," Kimblee said, and Selim looked him over once again. He did seem kind of nice, actually. Trustworthy, even. If it wasn't for the fact that Pride had said he was his ally, he might have tried to turn for him for help. Instead, he was once again trying to find a way to turn an unfavorable situation into his favor.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, earning a confused look from the older man, which quickly turned into a half smile and a shrug.

"I already said, I work for your father, and it's not very good for little boys like yourself to be running away from home," he said casually. This probably wasn't the best idea in the world, but maybe he could talk himself out of this. He hadn't actually tried anything like that yet, and Kimblee seemed like a reasonable guy, actually, and if that failed, he could always just fight himself out.

"And if I told you I wasn't a normal little boy?" Selim asked. It was true, he wasn't a normal boy anymore, and he wasn't sure he'd ever be again. Even if he ever got out of Pride's body, he was… changed. He might turn back to normal physically, but he was positive he'd never be able to turn back to how he was before. If he'd only had to go through with his father strangling him, he'd still be pretty much irreversibly damaged.

"Then I'd ask what you really are. I'm not exactly a stranger to the unusual," Kimblee said, and Selim nodded. He guessed if he was Pride's ally then he would be. It wasn't really the response most normal adults would give either, most of them would probably assume that he was talking about his status as the president's son, but that didn't seem to be what Kimblee had meant.

"**And you're sure he doesn't know you're a homunculus?**" Selim asked inside his head, and once again felt the reaction of Pride rolling his eyes inside his mind. He'd actually had started to get used to that by now.

"_No, not unless he was told while you've been in control… which isn't too unlikely, if they wished to have him partake in finding me,_" Pride explained, and Selim nodded again. That did make sense, so either it was that, or Kimblee was just a strange guy. The man cocked an eyebrow slightly at him, and Selim realized he'd been silent and nodding for no apparent reason what so ever. Whoops.

"Well, Mr. Kimblee," Selim started. Kimblee looked a bit surprised at how he'd been addressed by name, but quickly smiled afterwards non the less. "all you need to know is that I'm well capable of taking care of myself. Your assistance shall not be needed," he said, surprised at how easily that had all came. He wasn't even trying to talk like Pride at first, it had just sort of came out. It was probably the right thing to do, since the man stood back up, no longer squat down to reach his height.

"Is that so?" he said, looking down the street before turning on his heels to face him again. "Even if you're telling me the truth, which I'm sure you are, I'm under orders from your _Father_ to bring you back to him as soon as possible," the tall man said, and Selim set a frown on his face. He hadn't planned to try the Pride angle, but it seemed like it was the only choice now.

"Wrath's orders do not outrank mine. _I'm_ telling you to leave me be, and you will," Selim said, but Kimblee just shook his head, a smile on his face. It wasn't like the smile he had before, reassuring and almost trusting. No, this one was more like the one Envy had given him. It wasn't the smile of someone mentally sane, and Selim suddenly could tell how someone like this could be on their side.

"It's not Bradley's orders I'm under. You're not about to tell me that you outrank your Father, are you, _Pride_?" the tall man said as he stepped towards him. Selim stepped back with each advanced forward. So he would have to fight? That wasn't what he'd wanted, but thankfully there wasn't anybody outside now, the rain coming down like crazy. He wished he could be out of it, instead of fighting for his life in it.

"I'm not Pride," he said quietly, unsure if the man in front of him could hear him over the sound of the raindrops pounding the ground and roofs and his stark white umbrella. He'd already started letting the shadows pool out around him, solid black against the cobblestone street. No eyes. No teeth. He didn't want to use those.

"No, I suppose you're not," the young man said, putting his umbrella down to the side, before frowning at he looked up towards the unforgiving sky, a streak of lightning quickly lighting up a section of the sky before disappearing again. Selim was just glad it wasn't pitch black, or else he'd be completely defenseless. "I'd just gotten this suite clean too, and you've gone and made me get it all wet," Kimblee said, before lowering his gaze back towards the small boy.

Without warning, the man started towards him, leaving Selim just enough time to swing his arm upwards, the shadows mimicking him. He'd been practicing since his fight with Greed. It was still very odd and a bit haphazard, but it was no where near as sloppy and frantic as he had been before.

Before Selim could think the man slapped the soaked ground, the street under Selim exploding without him having any chance to move. All he could do was pull the shadows up around him protectively as he was flung into the air.

That… had really hurt. Slowly he pushed himself up into a standing position, now eyeing Kimblee much, much more wearily then he had before. It wasn't nearly as bad as if he'd had his real body, he wasn't even bleeding, and he guessed he should be thankful for at least that. He could feel Pride's arrogance and pleasure at the situation spark up again.

"_Oh, I didn't mention? Kimblee is a state alchemist specialized in explosions,_" the voice in his head said smugly, but Selim didn't have the time to respond, the man once again running towards him. This time Selim sent his shadows forward to him, trying to tie him up like he'd done with Greed. Kimblee managed to dodge to the left, once again transmuting the ground around the boy into a bomb, Selim only barely managing to get out of it's immediate way. He was still knocked off his feet, but it was a bit better then last time.

Instead of waiting for Kimblee to blow him up for a third time, Selim sent out the shadowed hands towards him, trying to hold him down. He had to get out of here soon, people had to of heard those explosions. Even with the rain, they'd send somebody.

Once again, the black haired man was able to effectively dodge his attack, and Selim had to frantically run out of the way of several assaults. There had to be a way to beat him. Something that would give him enough time to run away to someplace a bit more safe. Selim glanced down towards the holes in the street where there was only dirt left from all the explosive attacks, and smiled just slightly. Had no idea if it would work, but he'd gotten lucky with his plan against Greed, maybe this would turn out alright too.

Selim waited until Kimblee had gotten close to one of the holes, before sending a huge solid black spike towards him. He managed to jump out of the way just as he had all the other times, but this time Selim didn't pull the shadow back. He let it dig deep underneath the ground.

Okay, it was now or never. He had no real idea if it was in the right place to work, but it was worth a try. Flinging his arm upward, he could almost feel the shadows working their way up through the ground as fast as they could, bursting forth in an explosion of stones and dirt… right under Kimblee's feet.

Without waiting for any sort of sign or signal from the man in the pure white suite, Selim turned tail and ran as fast as he could down the street, turning at every corner he could find in order to lower the chances of Kimblee managing to find him.

When he finally stopped he was heaving, covered in mud and so very wet and cold. Leaning against a brick wall, he tired to catch his breath. Lightning crashed above his head, and he felt like crying. He didn't though. After everything he'd been though, it felt almost like he couldn't anymore. He just wanted to get out of this rain.

Pushing himself off of the wall, the black haired boy sullenly started down the random street he was on. Looking up at the sky, he felt like he could almost drown on the air, and sighed to himself.

The clouds couldn't rain forever. He'd get out of it once it finally decides to stopped.

* * *

And done. I hope this was a suitable one year anniversary chapter. Another random cameo, well, it wasn't too much of a cameo. I hoped this worked better then Riza had last chapter. I've got a plan again too (has the end, I just need to figure out everything with how to get there. Almost all the parts are in place, but need to fill in a few holes)

Well, as always, I hoped you like this, and please review.


	29. Chapter 27

Hiya. I'm excited for this story again. I can't wait until I get to the final little saga, it will be epic. At least I hope it will. Well, I need to write this chapter first, which will hopefully be just as good as the stuff I can't wait to get to, but must. Sorry for the bit of a wait on this one by the way, due dates for school work are annoying.

Chapter 27

Selim had no clue where he was by this point, and didn't care. There wasn't anybody outside to see him, so he just kept walking. He wasn't even cold anymore, the water having numbed him quite a while ago. There still wasn't any end in sight, and he had the feeling that this would be one of those rainstorms that lasted over a day long. Just his luck.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he was able to find a semi-covered area to hide in. Not caring about the mud or sticks, the black haired boy crawled underneath a wooden deck attached to someone's house. He had no clue who lived there, or anything, but it would do. Sure, water was still dripping steadily in through the cracks in between the boards, but it was better then sitting out in the open. Pulling his mud covered legs close to him, he desperately tried to get some feeling back into his borrowed body.

It wasn't much later that he'd fallen asleep, cold, wet, and utterly exhausted. Still alive though. He just had to keep reminding himself that. He was still alive, and he wasn't going to let anything change that.

When he'd woken up, he had no idea how much time had passed and he felt worse then ever. He was sore all over, his clothes were still soaked and he had dried mud covering his upper body, and he was sitting on the still soaked ground. The only good thing he could think of about this situation was that the rain had finally decided to stop.

Waiting for a few moments to make sure he couldn't hear anybody actually on the deck he was hiding under Selim started to crawl his way out. Looking around, it seemed to be the middle of the day, and everything still looked a little wet. He vaguely wondered what day it was, but decided quietly that it didn't really matter in the end, as long as he could keep himself safe until tomorrow. Just one day at a time.

Without any direction he started moving away from the house, trying once again to plan his next move. He couldn't seem to be able to get passed 'find the Elric brothers' without something terrible happening to distract him. Not today though, he'd actually get something, anything, done today.

He realized that he'd been gone for at least two days now, there was sure to be a public search for him, even worse then the first time, if that was even possible. He was taking a big risk just being out in the open like he was now, but how was he supposed to get anything done if he was hiding all the time. He'd just have to hope he looked absolutely pathetic and unrecognizable enough that no one would think a street vermin like him could possibly be one of the most powerful people in the world's son.

Reaching a small shop window, he looked in at his reflection, and suddenly the cleanliness he'd had during his small time at Pride's house was a far memory, and he really wouldn't be surprised if no one recognized him. He sure didn't.

The clean clothes he had been wearing were brown with mud and dingy from the rain, the same with any exposed skin. His black hair was matted down with wet and probably terribly knotted. His once shinny shoes were caked with mud, and full of water. What he didn't recognize most was his face though. It looked completely and utterly worn out. It wasn't as bad as if he'd had his normal body though. If he'd had that, he'd be dead by now, or at least cut up to the end and back.

Pulling himself away from his pathetic reflection, he started down the long street. It got more populated the farther he got, and he figured that he must be getting closer to the busier parts of Central. It wasn't the best place to be heading, but he found it hard to care anymore. He should, he had to keep himself alert in order to just survive but dang it, he was only nine years old! This was wearing on him. A lot.

"Pride… I'm tired," Selim said after a few moments, hoping that the sin inside him would respond. He did, in his same, arrogant way, but Selim was used to that by now, and it was much better then nothing. Anything would be better then nothing.

"_You just woke up,_" the voice said, a slightly ticked off tone to the words, but Selim just shook his head. It was kind of amazing how you could walk around the streets talking to yourself and looking like a homeless wreak of a child, and no one would notice or care. People just didn't pay him any attention, which was what he wanted, he supposed.

"That's not what I mean… I just want to go home… and you want me out of your body. Please Pride, just help me! We both want the same thing in the end, why can't we get it without me dieing in the process… please?" Selim begged, and hoped beyond hope that Pride would say something, anything, that would be useful, or at least see what he was saying and try and do something that would set them on some path. After waiting for a few minutes with nothing but silence ringing through his head, Selim sighed, and started walking forwards again, unsure of when he'd even stopped.

"Fine… I'll do it myself, just like I have been this entire time," he mumbled, worn out but not about to stop now. No, he just needed a plan. Something to set him mind onto so that he could actually feel like he had something achievable to do.

"_You could always break into the national library,"_ Pride said, shocking Selim with how casual he'd said something that could possibly help him. He thought he wasn't going to. "_I'm not. If you try and go there you could easily be captured and brought right back to father, it's your choice if you think it's worth the risk,"_ the sin explained, and Selim guessed that made a little bit more sense, but it was still the most Pride had ever really done to actually aid him.

There could be something in the library. Sure, he was a complete amateur at alchemy, but maybe he could find something. If it even had anything to do with alchemy, but he was pretty sure it did, if the Elrics knew something. It's be dangerous, like Pride said, but right now he needed something to get him out of his mental rut. Plus, Ed was a state alchemist, he could very well be in the library.

"Okay, it's a plan then," Selim said quietly before heading into the direction he was almost positive the library was in. He could hear Pride scoffing in his head, but ignored it. What he said was true, they both wanted him to leave Pride's body, so why couldn't Pride help him while he was on the run. He didn't have to do anything that would cause him to betray his father or anything like that, he could leave that up to Selim himself, but if the human boy was able to find a way to fix everything, then it should be just as good as his father expelling his soul from his body, even better for Selim.

It wasn't long before Selim could see the national library from behind a building corner. He knew these parts of Central better, but he was also much, much more likely to be recognized here. Just getting to the library would be hard enough, let alone finding a way in. Shaking his head slightly, he decided to try and get at least a bit closer. He wasn't doing anything standing around staring at it.

Walking towards the back, he tried to find some sort of employee entrance or other obscure doorway. There were a few guards around in the back still though, so even when he found a blank looking back door, he couldn't just walk up to it and go in.

After maybe a half hour of waiting, hiding behind the low fence, the guard left. Not letting the chance slip away and another one come to take his place, the black haired boy sprinted across the small yard and to the door, hoping like crazy that it was actually open. If a guard, or anyone really came back and saw him, even if they didn't recognize him he'd be in trouble, looking like a dirty orphan trying to sneak inside.

For what seemed like the first time in forever life actually managed to catch him a bit of a break, the door opening without any sort of resistance, and he carefully slipped inside, closing it behind him before anyone returned.

It looked like some sort of storage room, but Selim wasn't able to get too much of a baring, barely able to see a few feet in front of him in the darkness, just managing to squint to be able an make out a few stacks of books close by. If he was attacked in here he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to defend himself with Pride's shadows. Putting his arms out hesitantly, he slowly started making his way forward in the dark.

After what felt like an eternity and completely freezing every time the ceiling above him would creak with the sound of someone walking around, the child finally reached a stairwell leading up. Slowly he started up the stairs, stopping at the top and placing an ear to the door. He couldn't hear anybody, but it was a library, they were suppose to be quiet. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself as he carefully cracked the door open just enough to peak out, and hope no one immediately saw him.

Glancing around, it actually seemed like the coast was clear, and he slipped through the crack, shutting the door behind him, before slowly sneaking off down one of the empty isles. Selim's entire body was on edge as he tiptoed around. If anyone saw him it was obvious that he wasn't suppose to be there, and it was hard to concentrate on trying to find something that would help him when he was flinching at every sound he made. Why couldn't be act all calm and collected now, like he was when he was standing face to face with people who wanted to capture and expel him to oblivion?

"Hey, are you suppose to be in here?" Selim felt his heart nearly stop at the sound of someone behind him, and acted before his brain could actually stop to think, his entire body was so high strung from waiting for exactly this to happen. He didn't turn to answer or try and think his way out of this, he just started running. "Hey! Get back here!" the person, from the sound of it a woman, yelled, but Selim wasn't about to stop.

This was a bad idea. He shouldn't of let Pride talk him into coming in here, even if he hadn't actually talked him into it, he really had just merely suggested the idea, he still shouldn't of done it.

"Ahh-mphhh!" Selim barely managed to yell out when someone picked him up out of no where, quickly covering his mouth so that he couldn't actually scream. He'd only managed to calm down slightly when whoever it was, he couldn't see from the way he was being held, whispered to him.

"Just relax, and don't let them get a good look at you," the man mumbled, and Selim stopped his immediate struggle, looking towards the floor in a pathetic attempt to do what he said, and just hoped that this was the person he thought it was, and not his mind playing a cruel joke on him.

"Hey! Sorry about that, I hadn't realized he'd followed me in here, Al was suppose to be watching him back at the hotel," the man said, and Selim tried to keep himself from getting overly excited at the mention of someone named Al. It seemed like he might have been passed the worst after all, maybe. Hopefully.

"Oh… you know this boy, Mr. Elric?" the librarian asked, and Ed nodded, keeping one arm on the child and scratching the back of his head with the other sheepishly.

"Yeah, he's the nephew of a close friend. We're watching him for the weekend. C'mon Tyler, let's get you back to Al," Ed said, and Selim just nodded and followed him towards the exit of the library, keeping his head down in entire time. Hopefully people would think he was just a kid ashamed that he had gotten caught and in trouble. "How'd you get so dirty, anyway?" the blonde man asked as they walked, and Selim just shrugged, not really sure what a reasonable explanation could be.

"Um… playing?" he said quietly, and soon the two were out of the library, and Ed started to walk a bit easier, although Selim was still on edge, trying to keep his joy as contained as possible. Something could still go wrong, just like last time.

After they were few blocks away from the library Edward stopped and turned toward him, a look of confusion and concern on his face. Selim felt bad for getting the brothers involved in his problems, but who else was he suppose to go to? Edward Elric was the hero of the people, he didn't know of any other alchemist who wouldn't immediately turn him back in to the government and his 'family.'

"Okay, what happened?" the older boy asked, and Selim sighed softly under his breath. Even though it hadn't actually been too long since he'd last seen the brothers, that question had quite an answer.

This was going to take a long time.

* * *

Whooo hooo. Done, and before the 30th, too. Yay. Finished my bio work early, so I had the chance to finish this chapter. Now I just have to do the same for everything else on my to do list.  
Well, poor Selim has finally got a ray of sun shine in his bleak little run of luck. Good for him. Sorry if the beginning of this chapter wasn't the cheeriest, but things are starting to take a turn for the better. Or is it? (must remain ambiguous with my plot)  
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and please review.


	30. Chapter 28

Hey, new chapter. I've finally been able to get my sleep schedule back in order since the last chapter. Had been completely nocturnal (going to sleep at 10 in the morning, waking up around six or seven) for a few days, and it felt terrible. I'm all fixed up now though, so I can think straight enough to actually write. Yay. Anyway, chapter time now.

Chapter 28

"Okay, what happened?" Edward asked him, looking Selim up and down as he stood next to him. Cautiously the blacked haired boy looked around him. What had just happened was pure luck, he didn't want to ruin it now by being spotted and taken away, just like last time.

"Can we go somewhere a bit more hidden first, Mr. Elric?" Selim asked, and without giving him any trouble on it Ed nodded, starting down the street again. The younger boy quickly followed, trying to think of how he could possibly explain what had happened to him once they got to Ed's chosen location. He had just barely managed to explain his situation last time, and found out that they knew about the white figure.

They were quickly getting farther and farther away from the center of the city, and Selim soon lost track of where they were.

"Um, where are we heading?" the boy asked, once they managed to leave the grip of the city all together, finding themselves in a forest. None of this seemed to bother Edward all that much, simply continuing to walk forward as he answered.

"Don't worry, it's not much farther. It's a little cabin we found a while ago," he explained, and Selim nodded as they continued down the path until their destination finally came into view. He couldn't help but notice how quiet Pride was being again, but now wasn't the time to ask about that, not when he was so close to getting answers and help.

"What about your brother?" Selim asked as they went in, quickly noticing the gigantic gaping hole on one side of the house.

"Yeah, I'd wanted to get him first, but he's with some of Mustang's crew, it would have been too dangerous, I'll talk to him later," the blonde said, pulling a stool over to sit down, "but first, start explaining. What the hell is going on?" Ed asked, and Selim took a deep breath before beginning.

"Okay… well, you already know about Pride… in my head," the child started, still not believing that they had believed him the first time he'd explained.

"Right, and he can like, hear us? Right now?" Ed asked, looking a bit spooked as he did. Selim just nodded, still wondering a bit about the silent state of the sin. "Is he… saying anything?" the black haired boy couldn't help but notice how Greed had asked the same exact question, as did Pride.

"_Idiotic human… tell him that all of his attempts are useless, he should just abandon you while he still can,_" the sin said, and Selim had to keep himself from flinching at his harsh tone. Someone was having mood swings lately.

"Um, he says hi… and that your attempts are useless and to abandon me while you still have the chance…" Selim whispered, a bit worried that Ed would actually take Pride's advice and just leave him there. Instead he just looked a bit intrigued and surprised.

"Alright, well that's not gonna happen. Anyway, back to the explanation, how did you get away from Envy?" the blonde asked.

"I pretended to be Pride, and they believed me. I left when they weren't looking," Selim said, trying to keep it all as simple as possible. He wanted to get as much done as he could before he was found again. Even though he was trying to ignore Pride's insistence that would happen, it was getting to him, and truthfully it was the most likely thing to happen if they Elrics couldn't fix him soon.

"They believed you? That's… huh. How does Pride act?" Ed asked, looking both confused and surprised, not that Selim could really blame him. Even though he'd apparently met Pride when he was pretending to be a normal boy, Selim wasn't even like that in terms of being outgoing. The black haired boy couldn't help but smile slightly as an idea hit him, and decided to actually try it for once, not sure where the small amount of confidence had come from.

"Well Edward, you see Pride," he started, setting a smirk on his face, sitting up a bit straighter and using the slightly arrogant tone he associated with Pride. "he acts a bit like this, if the way those foolish homunculus were so easily tricked has any say in the matter," Selim allowed a small string of shadow to curl around him for added effect, knowing he shouldn't be having this much fun with his little act.

Edward was staring at him, a look of shock and suspicion on his face. Selim quickly willed the shadows back inside Pride's container, returning to his normal shy demeanor. He could feel Pride's annoyance at his act, but the sin said nothing.

"Um… yeah, that's how he acts," the black haired boy said again, causing Ed to blink back into a look of confusion.

"Oh, well wow… That was really good," Ed mumbled, looking him over a bit. Selim just smiled weakly until the blonde continued. "Well anyway, it's good that you found a way out," he said, and Selim nodded.

"You never got the chance to tell me about the white figure… do you really think you can get me back home?" the child asked after a moment. Ed seemed to come out of the remaining bit of suspicion he had for him after his little act at the mention of what had happened before, and nodded.

"Yeah, it'll be difficult though… dealing with the gate… if you really died then… no that wouldn't work…" the blonde mumbled, half to himself and half to Selim. He wasn't sure what Ed had meant by the gate, but he guessed it was the scary doors he had seen. It was a bit like a gate after all, it led him to this world, anyway.

Selim couldn't help but notice how much quieter and less objective Pride was being this time around. It almost worried him. The sin had said that telling the Elrics would ruin everything, so maybe it was already ruined, and that's why he didn't seem to care anymore. Whatever it was, the silence wouldn't sit right with him as Ed mumbled to himself.

"**Pride, are you alright?**" Selim asked while Ed was preoccupied. He could feel the steady annoyance the sin had with this whole situation, and he really didn't blame him, if he really thought about it from his point of view.

"_What was that?_" the voice from inside him asked back, sounding just as peeved as Selim felt he was.

"**What do you mean?**" the black haired boy questioned, hoping Edward wouldn't interrupt them just yet. Luckily, Pride answered before the blonde did.

"_Your little act. There was no need for it, and it was completely unlike you,_" Pride explained, and Selim really had to think about what his answer was. Pride was kind of right in what he said, but he'd just… wanted to. It'd been fun seeing the look on Ed's face, and pretending to be someone he wasn't when his life wasn't depending on it was kind of nice. He just didn't know if Pride would understand that, he barely did himself.

"**It just seemed like fun. Sorry?**" he said, feeling the sin inside him rolling his eyes in annoyance. Selim sighed softly. He didn't want Pride to be mad at him, even though everything he'd done was almost guaranteeing that to happen.

"Hey, everything okay?" Ed asked, breaking the boy out of his thoughts. Selim nodded quickly, hoping the blonde wouldn't get too suspicious. It'd be beyond confusing to try and describe whatever relationship he and Pride had, and he didn't want to distract the blonde if he was trying to think of a way to get him back home.

Edward looked him over once more before nodding to himself. Selim didn't think he believed him, but was glad he was kind enough to not press him into saying anything. After a moment Ed stood up from the rickety old stool, stretching his arms before turning back towards the young boy.

"I should go get Al, he's probably wondering where I disappeared off to," he said, and Selim couldn't help but agree. It would be better with both brothers here to help him, even if the other was a bit intimidating in his armor. "Will you be okay hiding here by yourself?" Ed asked, and Selim nodded. "Good, but before I go, what was that thing you did before, when you were pretending to be Pride?" the black haired boy had to think a bit before he realized what he was talking about.

"Oh, you mean the shadows?" he asked, and Ed nodded. Selim looked down at the ground, not having noticed he'd given away Pride's power at the time. The sin was yelling at him a lot less then he thought he would be. If fact, he wasn't saying anything at all.

"That's Pride's power. Like this," the boy explained, allowing the shadows to leak out around him, crawling up the walls and lifting the chair that Ed had been previously sitting on. They were still wobbling around the room just barely under his control, but it seemed to impress the older blonde quiet nicely. "They can do other things too…" Selim continued, allowing one to shape itself into a sharp spike. "I'll be safe," he said, and couldn't help but smile at the smirk on Ed's face as he nodded.

"Right. I'll be right back then," he said, quickly turning to leave the small rundown cottage, Selim pulling the black mass back into himself.

After the alchemist had left, Selim sat in silence, trying to go over what had just happened to him, completely by chance. It really was a good thing that he'd snuck into that library. He might actually have found his once chance at getting home alive.

For some reason, Pride's questions from earlier wouldn't leave him alone though. Why had he decided to act like him for that moment? It wasn't like it'd been anything bad, but the sin was right when he said it just wasn't like him. At least, not like the him that had first come to this world, or even the one just a few weeks ago. He was changing, and he wasn't really sure if he liked it or not. Even if he was becoming a bit more like Pride, the homunculus wasn't all bad. Selim actually did wish sometimes that he had a bit more of his confidence, after all.

"Hey Pride?" the black haired boy called out, hoping the sin would answer him, even after he had blatantly showed his enemy his power.

"_What?_" Pride answered, an exasperated tone to his voice. No, he wasn't all bad, Selim really hoped that after whatever his father's plans were happened, or hopefully didn't, he's still be alright. Sure, he thought humans were on the same level as weak insects, but he was still just a kid, really. At least, that's how Selim saw it.

"I'm sorry I gave away your power," the younger boy apologized. He could feel the regular eye roll, but the irritation the sin was putting off actually seemed to lessen, even if just a tiny bit.

"_They were going to find out eventually. True, it was sooner then I would have wanted, but they've already discovered my identity. That was more important then anything, but only a minor setback in Father's plans, mind you,_" Pride said, not sounding too worried about what happened. It actually managed to calm Selim slightly. Like he'd thought, their relation was so complicated, just this morning he'd been near tears, telling the sin he could do it all on his own.

"Okay… You know, when Edward and Alphonse get me back home, you'll be free of me and be able to go back to your father and the other homunculus," Selim said, not sure why he was trying to cheer the sin up. It was true though, Pride would be free as soon as he was back in his real body.

"_You're such a child,_" Pride grumbled, and Selim couldn't help but smile slightly at the comment. The last time the voice has said something like that, he'd been nearly in tears, and that had basically sent him over the edge, before the Elrics had calmed him down enough to speak again. Even now, remembering why he'd been crying in the first place, it didn't bother him too much.

He had hope now, and he had control. Sure, it was still flimsy, but there was a small confidence growing in him that he hadn't noticed before. He still wasn't anywhere near Pride though, but he didn't want to be. He was just able to hold himself up a little stronger then before, even after the rain and attacks and death he'd been through, and frankly, it shocked him.

"I know Pride, and you are too," he said, feeling the irritation radiating off the sin at his comment. He was still a child, but this time he wasn't going to cry.

* * *

Hurray, Selim still has a bit of hope. For an entire chapter? Blasphemy! Selim pretending to be Pride is really fun to write. I'm starting to get really interested in the way his psyce is changing, but this is my story, so I guess I should be. Anyway, I hoped you all liked the chapter, and please review.


	31. Chapter 29

Hello everyone. So sorry about the wait for this chapter, I ended up getting sidetracked with another story, and then I have all this stuff I have to do for real life that I really don't feel like doing, but will eventually. In the meantime though, I will finish up this chapter so you all can stop waiting. I feel like we're getting close to the climax. If it goes the way I want to we should be, at any rate.

Chapter 29

Selim wasn't sure how much longer he ended up waiting inside the old shed, but it was nearly dark out when he could hear the sounds of someone approaching. He'd barely talked to Pride during this time, both silently locked in their own thoughts. It wasn't bothering him as much as it had been before though, having gotten a bit used to the sin's quiet behavior. Plus, it was nice to be able to just sit and think about what he was going to say to the Elric brothers once they returned.

"Hey, we're back, everything still okay?" Edward called as he walked in, his brother, still wearing the armor, coming in right after. Selim nodded and attempted a smile, although it was starting to get hard to see as the darkness set in. Hopefully one of the brothers would start a light soon, he couldn't help but feel venerable in the dark.

Much to his relief, the younger one quickly transmuted a small light for them to all see by. There still seemed to be a look of uncertainty on Ed's face, and Selim didn't really blame him all that much for being confused about the whole situation. He was sure that Alphonse would look the same way, if he could see his face.

"Ed explained to me what you told him on the way here, so we don't need to repeat anything," Al said, and Selim nodded. That was good, they didn't have to waste any time.

"Do you have any idea what to do? I really just want to go home," he asked, feeling completely honest. Even if he wasn't sure what was waiting for him back there, with a father that had tried to end his life, but it wasn't like he could live like he was for the rest of his life either. Ed simply shrugged though, and while it wasn't a no, it wasn't exactly the most reassuring answer in the world either.

"We have a few ideas for what exactly happened to get you inside of a homunculus, but we really have no clue yet how to reverse it, and if you really are dead back wherever your from, then that just further complicates things," the blonde said, and Selim just nodded. Of course they didn't instantly have a quick fix for his problem, but at least they're trying. That was all he could really ask for.

"Don't worry though, we're going to try our best to figure out a way to get you back home where you belong," Alphonse said, and Selim smiled slightly.

"I understand, thank you so much for trying," he said, not really used to talking like that anymore. It was polite and genuine, like how he used to be back home. Since he'd been here though almost everything had been an act or just talking to Pride, which he didn't really go too far out of his way to be polite to like he would an adult. He just talked to him normally, which was a little strange, if he thought about it.

"So, there isn't anything else you can think to tell us that might help in sending you home, is there?" Edward asked, and Selim had to think for a moment. He'd already told them about Pride, how he'd gotten here in the first place, the white figure and the gates. If there was anything else, he couldn't think of it. A bit sadly he shook his head.

"Alright then, we'll just have to go with what we know for right now, it'll be fine," Alphonse said, and Selim just had to believe him.

"Um, what do you want me to do for now?" Selim asked. It felt so strange, he'd been so suspicious and alert for so long, someone saying that it was going to be okay, and that they'd help him was almost completely foreign. Ed just shrugged, glancing around the dim lit room a bit before he answered.

"Nothing really. We'll need to find a better place to hide you until we can figure out what to do. We don't want those guys to find you and snatch you up again like they did last time. You're sure that Pride wont be able to take control again?" He asked, and Selim quickly shock his head. That didn't even really seem like an option, much to a growing annoyance he could feel from the sin bubbling inside him.

"He's never been able to before," he said, and Ed nodded, his mind already looking like it was elsewhere, probably trying to think of a better hiding place then the rundown old shack. Selim wasn't even sure how much longer the place would stay up, with one of it's walls almost completely missing.

"Alright, that's good," the younger brother said, and it wasn't long after that the two were talking amongst themselves. Selim wasn't really sure what to do, not used to letting other people do things for him anymore. Just… sitting there while they talked about things he didn't understand was frustrating.

"Are you sure there isn't anything you need me to do?" he asked after a few more moments, and Edward turned his attention back to the boy just long enough to tell him no. Slumping on his stool just slightly, he tried not to let them notice. He really was glad that they were helping, but he'd only been here a few hours and he was already starting to feel restless. It was… odd, he didn't think he could of ever gotten _used_ to running and fighting for his life at every turn.

"_What's wrong? This is what you wanted, is it not?"_ Pride asked, a mix of annoyance and genuine confusion in his voice. Glancing back to the brothers, Selim shrugged.

"**It is, I'm glad they're helping, I just wish there was something I could do,**" he answered, allowing a bit of the shadows inside Pride's container to seep out around his feet. Edward and Alphonse didn't notice, but Pride did.

"_What are you doing?_" he asked, his voice returning to full on annoyance. He never did like when he used his shadows, no matter what the reason. Selim had to admit though, right now he didn't even have a very good reason at all, which would probably just anger the sin ever farther.

"**Playing,**" he answered, concentrating on the spiraling shapes on the floor, carefully trying to get them to follow his command. It was difficult, but he figured he'd made quite a bit of progress from when he first started out. The shadows almost seemed to dance along to floor, following to wherever he'd move his hand. He could hear Pride openly scoff at his statement.

"_My powers are not for you to play with. Stop messing with them this instance,_" the sin commanded, but Selim didn't listen, letting one string of the darkness to rise up off the floor just a bit.

"**But I'm bored,**" he almost mumbled, if it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't actually said it aloud. It was just weird, he almost felt like he could act like a kid again. Almost, not completely. He still wasn't home, he was still in more danger then he could imagine, but there just wasn't anything he could do about it now. At least, that's what the Elric brothers said.

"W-what's that?" Selim's head quickly shot up at the sound of the younger brother's question and saw that he was indeed starting at the ever growing mass of shadows he was morphing into strange shapes in front of him. Not realizing how large he'd allowed it to get, the black haired boy quickly shrunk it down to almost half it's height, only coming up to about his knees, and smiled sheepishly. When they said that Edward had explained what he'd said, he thought that had meant everything, including his control over Pride's powers.

"Pride's shadow, I'd gotten a little bored, so I was playing with it, sorry," he apologized, watching as the armored boy slowly nodded his head.

"Oh, oh right. Ed had explained how you could use the homunculus's power on your own, I'd just hadn't expected it to look like that, I guess," Alphonse said. It wasn't long before the two continued talking to each other, and by now Selim had started to just block them out, instead of trying to actually follow what they were saying. So many alchemical and other terms he didn't understand, and constant references to the gate and the truth, which he guessed was the giant doors and the white figure, but after a while of getting lost, he'd stopped. The shadows could make excellent entertainment.

"Alright!" Edward declared after what had to be at least an hour, standing up off the ground and gathering Selim's attention almost instantly. Quickly, he drew Pride's shadows back inside, watching the older teen for whatever it was he was going to say.

"We've been thinking over places where we could hide you, at least temporarily, but the only problem is we don't know what places are safe anymore," Alphonse started, and Selim nodded. That made sense, especially considering how fast Envy had found him with them last time.

"Right, and with what happened last time, it isn't safe to have you with us constantly either," Ed said. As Alphonse started up again, Selim couldn't help but be a little bit impressed with how easily they were able to finish each other's thoughts. They had been talking to each other about this for a while now though.

"So, we were wondering if maybe… you could stay here, just for tonight, and tomorrow we'll be able to scout out a place for you to hide," Al finished, sounding a bit apprehensive about leaving a child they were suppose to protect alone in a half collapsed shack for the night. Selim just nodded though. He'd spent so many nights alone so far, one more wouldn't hurt.

"That's alright, I understand," he said, and the brothers looked a bit relieved that he was so comfortable with this. As long as the homunculus didn't find him, it'd be fine.

"Good, we're going to leave then, the longer we stay here, the higher the chances are that the homunculus could find you. You'll sure you'll be safe for the night?" Ed asked, and Selim nodded once more. Without anymore fuss, the brothers left him again, leaving Selim alone, and still at a loss for what to do with himself.

Maybe he should just sleep, it was getting awfully late, but he wasn't really all that tired. The thought that someone was helping him, was going to try and figure out a way to get him back home where he belonged, was keeping the child awake. Standing up, he started pacing around the edges of the room. He had to sleep, but he couldn't.

"Pride?" he called out to the open air, not having to keep his thoughts inside now that he was alone.

"_What?_" the sin asked, his voice sounding blank and bored. Selim ignored it though, it wasn't like he had anyone else to turn to at the moment.

"I'm feeling anxious, I don't know what I should do," he said, and he really didn't. He knew he should just wait for the Elric brothers to come back in the morning, and let someone who actually knew what they were doing fix his problems for him, but he just didn't want to be useless. He actually wanted to help. He could hear Pride sigh inside of him.

"_And talking to the voice inside your head is suppose to help that?_" he asked, and Selim supposed that what he was doing would be rather silly, if the voice in his head was just that, but it wasn't. It was a completely separate being, so yes, it could help. He knew Pride could hear what he thought, and felt him roll his eyes at it. "_Go to sleep then, and wait for the Elrics to come back in the morning, if they actually do, that is,_" he said.

Selim ignored the doubt Pride was trying to put in his head. He knew they would come back, they were nice people, they wouldn't abandon him. Thinking of the sin's actual suggestion though, he nodded slightly, and started towards the cabin door.

"_Where are you going?_" Pride asked, not seeming to have expected the child to actually leave the shack. Selim wasn't really sure if his plan was the best, but it was at least a good thing to always be cautious. Hopefully it would help and keep him alive if he was.

"Outside, if your homunculus friends saw the Elric Brothers coming in or out of here and decided to check it out, it'd be bad if they found me asleep. I'll find somewhere in the forest and hide there, then come back in the morning before Edward and Alphonse come back," the black haired boy explained, quite satisfied with the slightly impressed feeling he could detect from Pride.

Once he was outside, he didn't see anybody, and carefully made his way into the dark forest. The moon was out a bit, as well as a few stars, but it wasn't really enough to see by. He wasn't even sure if it was enough to make any shadows, but decided not to think about that. When he decided he was far enough away that anyone looking for him in the cabin wouldn't find him, but he could still head back pretty easily in the morning, the child curled up in the roots of a large tree.

They really were huge, coming up high out of the dirt, allowing for him to partially hide himself if he really laid down. Thankfully, he found there was still enough light for him to form the black cocoon as a shell around him, further hiding him from any prying eyes.

It wasn't long before the black haired boy finally managed to get some sleep. He didn't mind that it was in the dirt, with bark as a pillow and pure darkness as a blanket, instead of at least in some semblance of a house. He'd gotten used to it, like so many other things he'd almost wished he hadn't.

It was just one more night. Ed and Al said they would find a place to hide him tomorrow, and hopefully soon after that, a way to send him home. He just had to be patient and listen to what they say.

Hopefully.

* * *

Finally finished this chapter. Once again, sorry for such a long wait, and then not much even happened in this one either T_T So sorry. I promise the next one will not take as long, and will hopefully be more exciting. Heh, hopefully seems to be the word of the day, doesn't it?  
By the way, by neighbor used to have a tree with huge roots that came out the ground like that. My sister managed to break her arm on one once (she wasn't looking where she was going, and playing a digimon video game as she tried to balance on them), they were so huge.

Well, I hope you still liked this, and please review.


	32. Chapter 30

Hello readers. Once again, sorry about taking nearly a month to update again. School started up, so I was frantically trying to finish all of my summer work, only kind of succeeding. Now, I have that taking several hours out of every day, plus homework, so sadly updates will be slower than they were over the summer, but I guess that's to be expected. Luckily, it's a four day weekend right now for labor day, so I can get this chapter out before things really start to get intense.

Also, hurray, we've reached the thirties.

Chapter 30

When Selim awoke the next morning he slowly allowed the shadows to seep back inside of him before looking around the forest. It looked like a pretty clear day, and was actually bright out, the clouds from the rain before gone. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept, or if the Elrics would have came already.

Standing up and halfheartedly attempting to brush himself off, he started back towards the cabin. If the brother's already came, then it'd probably be bad when they saw he wasn't there. They might of thought he was kidnapped or something, and he didn't want to miss them if they did think something like that. Who knows how long it would take to find them again. It still seemed like it was pretty early though, so he was hoping for the best, since it was really the only thing he could do.

The old building soon came into his sight, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the older Elric brother walking out through the front door. Quickening his pace a bit, he waved in order to get his attention. The blonde teen quickly spotted him and walked over.

"Hey, I was worried for a second that something might have happened to you," Ed said, and Selim smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to make sure that if the homunculus came to look for me here, they wouldn't find me sleeping in the cabin," the black haired boy explained, and Edward nodded, looking a bit impressed at his idea.

"Smart. Now let's go," he said, and Selim started following the taller boy. Looking around, he couldn't help but get a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't exactly right.

"Mr. Edward, where's your brother?" he asked, and Ed just looked back at him over his shoulder and smiled.

"Back at the hotel, we'll meet up with him later," he explained, and Selim nodded, continuing to follow him. It wasn't long before he noticed that they were going further into the forest, and the inkling inside him wouldn't leave him alone. Pride was silent though, he wasn't sure if the sin was awake yet, or if he was just ignoring him. Either way, as he stared at the back of the teen alchemist, he couldn't help but get the feeling that something was wrong with him. It wasn't something he could pinpoint though. It was just in his movement, and the subtle twitches of expression.

"Mr. Edward, is everything okay?" he asked after another few minutes of walking, and again he nodded, giving him a strange, slightly off smile.

"Of course, now don't worry, it's only a little bit farther," he said, and Selim peaked out in front of him to try and see whatever it was he was talking about, but couldn't spot anything.

"What is?" he continued to ask.

"Oh, you'll see," Edward said, a slight tint to his voice that Selim knew he recognized from somewhere, but wasn't able to place it, but it most certainly was not the eldest Elric brother. Stopping in his tracks, he looked the man over as he turned around to face him. It didn't make any sense, he looked just like Edward, but there was definitely something not right.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, watching as a huge, almost unnatural grin spread across the teen's face. "**Pride!**" he called to the sin, hoping that the voice would come to life inside his head and explain to him what was going on.

"_So you managed to figure it out all on your own? I have to say I'm either impressed with you, or severely disappointed with Envy for letting himself go that easily,_" Pride said, and Selim's eyes widened at the sound of the name, but wasn't able to respond to the internal sin before the fake Edward started speaking.

"Well, well, well, Pride, you really have been giving us some serious problems, I don't even know why Father's bothering with wanting you back alive anymore," he said, without warning his body starting to morph into a form Selim recognized, the skimpy black clothes and long, scraggly hair as distinctive as the insane smile plastered without restraint on his face now.

"I'm not Pride," Selim said almost defensively, but Envy didn't seem very interested.

"Yeah, I've heard. Well whoever you think you are, we kind of need Pride back, and according to Greed, he's still in there," Envy said, walking towards him. Selim took a set back with every one he made forward, allowing for his shadows to seep out around him. If he had to fight, then he would. He wasn't about to fall on the floor crying like he had their first meeting, at the very least. "Well, someone's grown a backbone."

"You're not really all that scary," Selim said, unable to hide the smile at the sin's shocked expression. He quickly switched it back to his insane smirk, although the black haired boy could still see a hint of irritation in his face.

"We'll see about that when I drag you back to Father kicking and screaming like a little kid," he spat, changing his arm into a blade and starting to run towards Selim. Swinging his arm, Selim took a few steps back as he sent tendrils of shadows out at the man, not able to tie him up, but effectively stopping his assault.

"I'm sorry Mr. Envy, but that's not going to happen," Selim said, carefully trying to make sure the shadows stayed under his control. Envy just raised an eyebrow at him though, a nearly confused look on his face.

"You sure you're not Pride kid, because you're acting an awful lot like him," the sin said, and it took all of his concentration to not let that question get to him. He wasn't Pride, even if he was acting much more confident than normal. Whatever the reason for that was, either all the experiences he'd been having lately changing him, or Pride's influence, he didn't know, but now was not the time to start thinking about it. Later, once he was safe and away from the homunculus.

Without warning Envy started at him again, and Selim was barely able to get the shadows to move in time. The skinny sin was only a few inches away from him when the child had the shadows force him back for a second time. It didn't seem to deter Envy any though, who was looking more amused at the situation than anything.

"Ya know Pride, I always thought you were an ungrateful little prick, but you were always the _last_ one on my list to go against Father," Selim could feel the irritation inside Pride bubbling up at his comments and tried to ignore the grumbling as he sent out several spike tipped shadows his opponent's way. Even though Pride would of course say that irritation and anger didn't exist inside him, Selim had been here long enough to realize what a lie that was.

"I already told you, I'm not Pride," the black haired boy repeated as Envy managed to dodge each of his attacks which what looked like ease. Even with Pride's powers and the practice he'd had, he still wasn't much of a fighter.

"You act like Pride, you can use his powers, and you look like Pride. In my opinion, that makes you Pride. Maybe you just can't handle of shame of going against the person who created you. Little Mr. 'oh of _course_ Father! _Anything_ for you!' actually getting a rebellious streak? Must of broke your freakin brain," Envy said, flipping a strand of his green tinted hair out of his face.

Selim wasn't sure if it was his anger or Pride's that was filling him at this point. They were both angry, and it wasn't something that Selim was used to. He wasn't Pride though, but the more he denied it, the less he would believe it, even if it was just a tiny part of himself with doubt. Either way, he sent sling after sling of black shadows after the sin, until eventually he managed to catch him.

"I am not Pride," Selim repeated for the third time as he walked up to the struggling homunculus. "My name is Selim Bradley," he said, and Envy stopped in his desperate attempt at an escape to look at him for a moment.

"Okay then, _Selim Bradley_, just what is it you're planning on doing with me now?" he asked, and Selim frowned as he tried to think of an answer. It was just like when he'd managed to catch Greed, but at least this time he had a much better hiding place.

"Where are the Elric brothers?" the child finally decided to ask, realizing that they hadn't of shown up.

"Oh don't worry about them, Father needs them alive for his plan after all," Envy said, but Selim wasn't sure if he actually believed him. "You didn't answer my question though, what you planning to do with me? Kill me, and I know for sure you aren't the normal little kid you're pretending to be," the sin asked again. Killing him had never even crossed Selim's mind though, and he almost instantly shook his head at the suggestion.

"I could never kill someone…" the boy mumbled, starting to walk about the sin, wondering what he could possibly do to get away this time. Envy just smiled again though, and Selim couldn't help but freeze in his tracks at the insane chuckle he let out.

"Really? That's interesting. I'll let you in on a secret…" Envy said, and Selim couldn't help but step back as crackles of energy started forming around him, the sign that he was about to change. "I could," he said, and before Selim could even realize what was going on, the homunculus was too big for the shadows that'd been holding him, and Selim wasn't able to think straight enough to retie him. Instead, he just backed away, staring at the huge, dripping body of mutated flesh that now stood in front of him. It almost looked like a giant, six legged dog… if dogs were made out of constantly distorting human body parts, that is.

"P-pride? What…" Selim managed to ask, not bothering to attempt to keep the thoughts in his head as what had to of been Envy turned to face him. He still had the mop of green tinted black hair on the top of his head, but almost nothing else was recognizable. It was then as Pride answered that Selim noticed that the twisted faces lining and bulging out of the side of his body were_ speaking_. It took the child everything he had to keep from throwing up as a piece of flesh dripped onto the tip of his shoe.

"_That is Envy's true form. Not the most pleasant thing in the world, quite fittingly, but it gets the job done,_" the voice inside of his mind explained, and Selim could just barely nod in agreement as he took a few more feeble step back from the monstrous being. He couldn't fight this. He was just a kid, even with Pride's powers. He couldn't… He wasn't Pride…

Selim didn't have any time to allow the shadows to shield him as Envy lifted one of his huge, clawed paw like hands, and flung him across the forest.

* * *

Hurray, cliffhanger-ish ending. Sorry about that, and once again, sorry for the wait. I know that this chapter wasn't even that long even after all of that either, but I'll try and get myself more used to school being back, and find a balance in between work and free time.  
Well, I hope you like this chapter anyway, and please review.


	33. Chapter 31

Hey y'all. Look, it's a new chapter that isn't grossly overdue! How did this happen? I'm bored and don't feel like starting my homework, that's how. Not the best reasoning in the world, but it'll work. Plus, I just don't want to keep you all waiting forever again, so here it is.

Chapter 31

Selim felt his body slam into one of the many trees and sank to the ground, the rough bark scratching at his back. It took everything inside him to keep from passing out and actually stand back up. If he was in a normal human's body, he would have been out cold, or possibly have broken his spine. Even in Pride's body, it was painful to move, and his head was spinning like crazy, he could barely make out the giant green form of his opponent as he made his way towards him through the forest.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" the monstrous creature said, but Selim didn't bother to respond, shaking his head and attempting to get his eyes to refocus. Before he was able to make much progress the giant claw was once again flinging him through the air. The only thing he could be thankful for was that this time he managed to somehow miss any trees, although he still ended up slamming into and skidding along the ground.

"S-stop," he managed to squeak out, although it sounded absolutely pathetic even to himself. Clinging onto a tree, he pulled himself up once more and looked around until he caught sight of Envy through blurred eyes, an amused look on his animal like face.

"Giving up already? Fine by me," he said as he made his way over to the child. Selim shook his head though, closing his eyes to attempt to make himself a little less dizzy. He couldn't just give up, he already swore he wasn't going to let himself die without a fight again. He could hear Pride sighing inside of him at his stubborn and probably idiotic refusal.

"_You should stop acting like a complete fool, there's no way for you to win this time, so quit struggling so hard,_" Pride told him, but Selim couldn't listen to that advice, no matter how much he almost wanted to. Rubbing his eyes, he managed to focus them enough that the trees stopped appearing to be swaying, and allowed the shadows to once again seep from around his feet.

"No," he said to both Envy and the voice inside of him. He really wasn't sure how much of the shadows he was letting out at this point, but he didn't bother to try and look around and see, keeping his sight trained on the enemy. Envy's expression changed from one of cocky victory to a bit of curiosity. Selim had no idea what he was doing, it always took so much concentration to be able to make Pride's shadows listen to him properly, and that was still usually in small amounts. He'd already let out more than he'd ever before, and if his vision wasn't fooling him, it almost looked like he was starting to intimidate the large green beast.

All of a sudden, the mishmash sin was charging towards him, knocking several trees over in the process. Selim let the shadows rush forward to protect him pretty much of their own accord. He didn't seem to have any control as several managed to slice or puncture the huge target. The pained screams tangled in with the rest of the voices calling out on the monster's body caused him to snap himself into enough control to be able to pull most of the shadows back, hovering around him in a swirling mass that felt ready to rush off again like a coiled spring.

"You… brat," Envy huffed, and it occurred to Selim as his now refocused eyes watched blood run down his already disgusting body that this was the first time that he'd actually directly injured someone with the shadows. Crackling flashes of red light highlighted the wounds as they healed almost instantaneously, but it was more than clear that Envy was absolutely furious. "Like hell will you get away with that," he growled, and Selim tried to plant himself firmly on the ground as the wind started to come back into him, and he focused the shadows towards him.

Envy started to charge for a second time, and Selim let the shadows shoot forward and dig themselves like spikes into the sin. Once again he was howling in pain and anger, but this time Selim didn't immediately pull back in surprise, and Envy still tried to push forward.

The shadows were once again beginning to rage out of his control, and a few mouths began to form. He couldn't remember if he'd even made mouths since that first time the shadows had appeared, but as bit into the giant sin's back, he instantly forced most of them to retreat, trying and failing not to gag. He could _taste_ it, the constantly mutating flesh, as well as the blood that filled the shadow's mouth.

Envy took that moment to allow himself to begin healing again, and Selim had mostly regained control and somehow managed to keep himself from throwing up once he had finished.

"_If you can't stomach it, you shouldn't use that skill,_" Pride said rather matter-of-factly. It was the same tone of voice that he usually used when he was trying to not let him know he was annoyed, although Selim could sense his emotions anyway, so he wasn't sure what the point of it was. Even if he couldn't, it was clear that the fact that he was managing to hold his own against Envy with the help of his own powers was not about to please him in the least.

"**I didn't mean to, and I didn't know that you could actually taste what those mouths eat,**" Selim defended, but quickly turned his attention away from the internal sin and back to Envy, who seemed to be trying to think of some other attack method then just 'charge,' seeing as that didn't seem to be working out so well.

"I'm not going to let you take me again," Selim said, and it just caused the frown on his face to deepen.

"Don't go thinking you've won just because you got a few cheap shots in, I won't lose to a bipolar brat like you," Envy growled, but Selim didn't respond to the insults. Instead, he managed to attack first, sending shadows spiraling out towards him, for once not in an attempt to bind his opponent, but it was an actual attack. It wasn't like it could die anyway, and he didn't want to kill him. It would just keep regenerating, and if he didn't attack, then he could get caught. It was his only choice.

The bulking monster attempted to dodge, but he was too big, and the trees surrounding them hindered his escape attempts. Suddenly, the increasingly familiar crackles of light formed around him again, and he was back to the original form that the black haired boy had seen him in.

"Father may want you back alive…" Envy started, a huge fire of loathing in his eyes as he walked towards him. "but if something were to happen before I could find you, then the old man would never know," he growled, and Selim tried to keep the threat from shaking his nerves as he kept the shadows poised to strike. He could feel the statement most certainly gather a reaction from the sin inside of him though.

"_How dare that traitor even consider going against father's direct orders and then lying about it?_" he asked in a huff, and Selim was taken back slightly by just how dedicated to his master's plan that Pride seemed to be, especially when he was probably the one considered a traitor at the moment, even if it was against his will.

"**Really? He threatens to kill you and you're just upset that he was going to lie to your father?**" Selim couldn't help but ask, managing to keep himself focused enough on the battle field to drive back an attack from Envy. Pride huffed, and Selim flung the sin across the clearing in a similar way that he'd been at the beginning of their fight.

"_Even with you in control, Envy will not be able to kill me. Defeat you, yes, but death will not happen, so loyalty to father is a much more important issue,_" the voice inside of him explained, and Selim managed to nod slightly as Envy pushed himself up off of the ground.

Sending another barrage of spiked shadows towards him, Selim's eyes widened as one of the thick blade like masses went straight through his chest. Up until then he hadn't let them hit anything vital, but he was such a smaller target now… The child was frozen in shock, and Envy's words from earlier started to play back in his head.

Kill me, and I know you aren't the normal little kid you're pretending to be.

Shaking his head, he quickly pulled the shadow out of the man and watched him fall to the ground in a heap. The light was beginning to crackle around him, but Selim didn't stop to wait for him to be fully healed and just have to start fighting again. Instead, he turned and started to run in the first direction that was away. He didn't know if the sin was following him or not, but he didn't stop until he was outside of the forest, collapsing on the ground and his insides burning from all the strain.

"I… I didn't mean to…" he said weakly between gasps for air. He felt more worn out than both mentally and physically than he could ever remember, and he knew that he was covered in dirt and probably blood, and their were great tares in his clothes. He could hear Pride sighing inside of his mind, the disappointment that he hadn't been caught rather clear, even when Selim was as emotionally distracted as he was.

"_Well it happened, and Envy isn't dead, it takes more than that to kill a homunculus,_" Pride said, and Selim nodded slowly as he scooted over and leaned against a fence. Now he really didn't know what to do. After all that work, he'd lost the Elric brother in one night before they were able to do anything to help him. It seemed that as long as he tried to go to them for help, the homunculi would find him almost immediately afterwards.

"I can't go to them for help anymore, can I? You're… family will just keep trying to catch me every time I find them," Selim said, pausing slightly when trying to figure out how to refer to the other homunculus. He figured that was how they were though, with that whole father figure and everything. He could sense Pride's intrigue at the way that he seemed to concede.

"_Exactly. We have the Elrics under watch, so it's hopeless. What are you going to do about your problem now?_" Pride asked, actually managing to sound genuinely interested in his future plan. Selim had to think for a few moments, allowing for the shadows to seep out and wrap around him in the meantime. It was definitely getting colder. It'd be winter soon enough, and if he didn't get back home by then, he wasn't sure what he was going to do or how he'd survive. The cocoon of darkness wasn't the most insulated thing in the world, it only kept in so much heat.

"I guess I'll just have to figure out how to solve it on my own. I don't know who else I could turn to," Selim said at last, not bothering to speak inside his head and closing his eyes. He was worn out from the fight, and still sore all over, despite this vessel being much more resistant than his normal body. If he was in that, he would have simply died of starvation or dehydration a while ago.

"_You wont be able to. You have to know that you'll fail eventually,_" Pride said, and to the sin's surprise Selim nodded in agreement. Maybe it was just from the fatigue, he didn't feel like fighting anymore, even if it wasn't physically.

"I'll just keep going until that happens, I can't let it get to me. I don't want to die again," he mumbled, and Pride didn't say anything for a few moments, and Selim was certain after a while that he wasn't going to respond at all, it wouldn't be the first time he just stopped in the middle of a conversation.

"_You are irritatingly persistent,_" the sin groaned, surprising Selim slightly, and he actually managed to smile, although it wasn't particularly funny or anything. He was rather surprised that he could still smile after everything that had happened today, but decided to not try and dwell on that for too long.

"I learned it from you," he said quietly, although he knew that Pride could still hear him, and could feel the sin roll his eyes at the statement. It was true though, and while he wasn't Pride, he couldn't really deny the influence the sin was having on his personality. He really didn't know if he liked it or not, but right now, it was helping him to survive, and that was all that mattered. As long as he was still himself on the inside, it'd be okay.

"_I know,_" Pride grumbled, and Selim chuckled slightly before drifting off into a dreamless unconsciousness.

* * *

Yay, finished. Selim is once again alone, and it seems like he'd going to have to start to change his game plan now that Ed and Al seem to be off limits. I know I just wont let this kid catch a break. This was probably the longest fight scene I've ever written, I hope it didn't seem boring or anything. Writing fight scenes scares me.

Well, I hope you liked the on time chapter, and please review.


	34. Chapter 32

Hey everyone, time for a new chapter, kind of sort of on time. Okay, kind of late. Anyway, I guess we're starting to get into the final stretch of this story, maybe. I have the ending planned, I just need to um, get there. I had said somewhere between 35 and 40 chapters, it will definitely be closer to forty, or possibly more. I'm not too sure yet… Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 32

Selim kept on walking for the rest of the day, not knowing or caring anymore where he was going, just making sure that he put as much distance between himself and Envy as he possibly could. Pride was nearly silent, but Selim wasn't really trying to get any sort of conversation out of him anyway, too focused on trying to think of how he could even attempt to survive now.

The Elric brothers were out of the question, as much as he wished they weren't. They were the only people he could even think of that might have been able to get him home and not just bring him back to Pride's house. Every time he went near them though, the homunculus found him, and he'd have to go running again.

As strange as it was, it had crossed the black haired boy's mind a few times to just go to the homunculus. It wasn't that he was thinking about giving up, but maybe they could know some way to get him back, it probably wasn't too big of a stretch to think that they did. No matter what though, he just couldn't bring himself to trusting them to not just simply kill him and be done with it the easy way. After all, if the only thing they wanted was Pride back, then why would they go through the extra trouble of sending him home?

No, he couldn't turn to the homunculus for help, so all that left was himself. What could he do though? He wasn't an alchemist or anything. He didn't even know if alchemy could fix him, the whole problem was because he'd died. There didn't seem to be many cures for that.

The rest of the day passed with little to no interruptions. He made sure to stay on the outskirts of Central, and no one seemed to look twice at a filth covered homeless boy sneaking around the edges of the slums. Once night took hold again, he hid himself in the crevice of some large pile of junk, using the shadows as a protective force like he had almost every night since he'd learned how to.

The entire time his mind kept whirling with trying to find the answer, some way to save himself, but each attempt came up short. Why was it so hard to just go home? It was almost as if the place simply didn't exist anymore, but he knew that wasn't true. If it was, then that would mean that he didn't exist either.

"Pride?" he called out to the chilled night air. It still wasn't too cold yet, but he didn't want to stay long enough to find out what he'd do when it did get into the deep winter.

"_Yes?_" the sin answered, sounding as bored and uninterested as he usually did. Selim just ignored it and went on to what he wanted to ask. He was starting to get very good at ignoring things, actually.

"What do you know about those doors, and that figure? The Elrics knew about it, if your father is as smart as you say he is, then he must know something, right?" Selim asked, and Pride couldn't help but he a bit surprised that this was the same whimpering child that had first taken over his container. He didn't linger on the thought very long, quickly becoming annoyed with being ordered around by the human child.

"_Of course Father knows, but what makes you think I would? Why don't you just go ask him for the answers yourself?" _Pride said, but surprisingly, Selim already had a response ready for him.

"But I thought you were his favorite? Wouldn't he trust you with information like that? I mean, if it can let someone live after they've already been killed and end up affecting you so much, it has to be important," the black haired boy argued, and for a second Pride was silent on an answer. Not because he didn't know the answer to his question, because he certainly did, but because he hadn't expected the boy to actually be able to target him with the one thing that truly mattered to the sin.

"_Father trusts me completely, and he has a reason to. You are the one who has no trust, of course I'm not going to tell you anything,_" the homunculus finally said, and Selim sighed as he stared ahead at the black wall of shadow that had engulfed him. He didn't doubt that Pride could keep his mouth shut, and he really wasn't sure how he was going to change that. It wasn't as simple as just become friends with the monster and he'd tell you whatever you wanted. He wasn't even sure if it was possible to become friends with him, if his father hadn't permitted it, at least.

"Pride, if you tell me what I need I might be able to find a way to get us both out of this mess," Selim tried again, but the sin was silent, and the boy sighed in resignation. He really couldn't get anything done if Pride wasn't willing to help him, and that certainly seemed to be the case. He couldn't just keep running until his luck ran out and he was caught though, but he wasn't able to think of anything else.

When the morning came Selim crawled out of his hiding place and started to wander aimlessly. What was he suppose to do? The lack of a direction was really starting to get to the boy.

"_Why are you so determined?"_ Pride asked, surprising Selim slightly. He hadn't expected the sin to speak, and now that he had, he wasn't really sure how to answer his question. It was obvious, wasn't it? No one wanted to die, that's why he was being so persistent.

"We've been through this, I don't want to die," the child mumbled to the voice in his head, ignoring the slight stare he got from a few people who managed to overhear him. They didn't stop him or try anything, which he was thankful for. They probably thought he was insane and talking to himself or something, which he could deal with if it meant he was left alone and semi safe.

Sighing, Selim leaned against a wall, actual irritation starting to seep in at the confusion he had. There had to be some way out of it.

"That's it," he grumbled to himself, turning around and starting to try to figure out the way back to the old cabin. He hadn't exactly been paying attention as he walked, and it was yesterday when he left, but he knew a general direction at the very least. Pride watched on at his actions in confusion, although he wouldn't really admit that.

"_What are you doing?"_ the sin asked, and Selim didn't hesitate at all as he began explaining. He really was loosing it now, wasn't he? He was either being extremely brave, or extremely idiotic right now. Pride would probably bet on idiotic, and sadly Selim wouldn't have really argued with him at that. He had no idea what he was doing, but he just had to do something.

"I'm going back," he said simply, although that didn't answer all of the homunculus' questions by a long shot.

"_Why?_" Pride asked, the annoyance he was feeling very clear. Selim tried not to let that single word question discourage him, although he did end up slowing his determined pace down just slightly. He still kept walking forward though, not letting himself stop to think about it too much, or else to might talk himself out of going. Chances were he wasn't going to find anything or anyone there, and it'd just be a big waste of time, but at least it was a start, sort of.

"I don't know," he mumbled, and the voice inside of his was silent after that, leaving the boy to his own thoughts as he struggled to find his way. By the time the sun was set, he'd been able to get a bit farther than where he was when he'd stopped to rest the night before. Managing to hide himself again, the child was only able to catch snippets of sleep during the night, his mind once again occupied. He didn't know why exactly, but even since the attack from that monster known as Envy, he just wanted to go home as fast as possible. He didn't like what he was becoming.

In the morning he was once again on the move, although it took him until very far into the day to finally find what he hoped as the same woods that the Elric brothers had taken him to. Bracing himself, the black haired boy started into the forest, looking around for any familiar landmarks or signs that would lead him back to that old barn.

After another two hours of wandering he had no idea where he was, and slumped against one of the many surrounding trees. Why couldn't he do anything right anymore? His mind was a swirl of emotions and he couldn't concentrate, and it was driving the child insane. He just wanted to go home, dang it.

Selim couldn't help but think that if he was in a story book or something like that, now, when all hope seems lost, would be the time when someone would stumble upon him and help guide him in the right direction or offer some helpful advice or give him some sort of epiphany that would set him on the rest of his journey right up until his happy ending. It wasn't though. There was no rustling of leaves, no mysterious stranger happening through the forest, no guidance from above. He was alone, and it stayed that way as he slowly slid down to the forest floor and fell asleep much earlier than he was used to now.

He ended up waking very early the next morning, the sun just barely starting to turn the eastern sky a light shade of grey. The grass around him was covered in cold dew, and everything seemed a bit wet. Had it rained? If it did, it couldn't have been any more than a drizzle, seeing as he hadn't even woken up.

Pushing himself from the ground, Selim stood up and ran a hand through his damp hair. He still wasn't able to answer that simple, two word question. Now what?

"_Give up,_" Pride oh so helpfully suggested, and Selim just rolled his eyes at the comment. It was the first time the sin had spoken in quite a while though, and the child couldn't help but think those words over just a little bit.

"Fine," Selim said after what seemed like an eternity, actually managing to surprise the ancient sin just slightly. He knew the boy was at the end of his ropes, but he didn't expect him to actually listen, he never had before.

"_Really, after all that, you're just going to hand yourself in?_" Pride asked, and Selim nodded, starting to look around and try to figure out which way would take him back to Central.

"I don't have anything else I can do. Maybe your father could help me after all. If anything, I can just pretend you were able to take control again and came back on your own until I figure something else out," Selim decided, leaving Pride quiet. It definitely wasn't a very good plan, but he had nothing else. Maybe it would be better to just go to the homunculi, instead of waiting for them to eventually find him. At the very least, they wouldn't be expecting it.

It took just as long to get out of the forest as it had to get inside, and by the time he made it to the outskirts of Central City, the sun had already risen. It was still a bit dark though, the sky an overcast from the rain he hadn't noticed the night before. It was probably going to start up again, but hopefully he'd have found that entrance to the underground tunnel system before that happened.

He couldn't believe he was actually doing this, but quickly pushed that thought from his mind. He couldn't psyche himself out. It was a stupid, terrible plan that was probably going to get him killed, and Pride wasn't saying a word for fear of accidentally triggering something that would get him up and fighting again. Like he'd thought before though, it was the only thing he had.

It was nearly noon when he finally managed to find the run down, hidden entrance that he'd left the underground lair with Greed from quite some time ago now. Well, this was it. He still had no clue was he was doing, but at least it was something. If anything, maybe this whole struggle would be over soon. He still didn't want to die though, and he was going to fight with all his might to keep that from happening.

Taking a deep breath, Selim masked any of the emotions raging inside him with the indifferent smug expression that he imagined Pride to wear. He managed to keep himself from flinching at the sound of his footsteps echoing around the tunnel as he walked down the small flight of steps.

Well, he was either going to get back home now, or die trying.

* * *

Hurray, finished. I'm terribly sorry, this chapter just seems like Selim moping around and nothing happening, and then when it finally seems to get somewhere, I end it. It wasn't coming to me very well, but I think I have it now, and will try to get the next chapter up a bit faster in order to make up for this. Sadly the key word it try, since I'm going to start being super busy soon. Don't worry though, I'll always make room for my fan fictions, because I have an unhealthy obsession that way : )

Well, I hope you liked this chapter anyway, and please drop a review.


	35. Chapter 33

Hello internet. Time to ignore everything else I should be doing and write the next chapter, and actually on time in the random schedule in my head that doesn't actually have any real set dates and is frequently readjusted. Anyway, here's the chapter, hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 33

It was eerily quiet as Selim made his way down the long, curving tunnels. He wasn't entire sure the exact way he was suppose to go, so just kept straight. The only sound came from the creaking of the grates that separated the hidden chimeras from him, and the echoing taps of his footsteps as he made his way forward.

When he actually reached the large entrance to the main room with the huge chair that he knew the old man Pride called Father was sitting in, he stopped and hid behind the doorframe before peaking inside. He couldn't believe he'd actually managed to walk the entire way without running into anyone, but he figured that the chimeras were usually their alarm and first defense. If they didn't start to attack, and no one was in the vicinity, then they couldn't of possibly known someone was coming, and since he was 'Pride' now, they would leave him be.

Starting into the room, he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do now that he was there. Should he play up the Pride angle again? What good would that do with getting him home though? If he told them the truth, he had no reason to trust they wouldn't just kill him, and even if Pride's shadows were strong and he'd finally managed to gain a basic hold over them, it wouldn't be enough if he had to fight more than one person at a time. With how the sin inside of him had acted, he wouldn't be surprised to see the other homunculus jumping up to defend their master, or at the very least doing it once they had been ordered to.

After what felt like an eternity, he drew in a deep breath and began walking into the room. The child still had no idea what he was going to do, and Pride was completely silent. That might have actually been a good thing though, he didn't want the often irritated sin to end up distracting him or anything.

"H-hello, father?" the child asked, the name feeling strange as it rolled off his tongue. The large blonde being stared down at him from his tall chair, and it became clear that he'd already knew about his presence before he had spoken, although for how long, the boy couldn't tell. Selim tried to keep any of the intimidation he was feeling inside of him as he started to speak again. He wasn't Pride, but that didn't mean he couldn't hold his own if he really needed to. At least, it didn't mean that anymore. "I need your help."

The being known as Father didn't say anything, instead just stared down at the child, a blank expression on his face, as if waiting for him to go on. Taking another breath, he did.

"My name is Selim Bradley, I-I somehow ended up in control of Pride's b- container," he stopped for a moment, allowing some of the shadows to seep out around his feet, as both proof and a bit of extra protection, just in case anything happened, "I need you to… help me get back into my body, then you can have Pride back to normal," he finished, and waited silently for an answer, the black mass swirling restlessly around him.

When he finally did speak, his voice was cold, practically emotionless. Selim tried to hide the fear that it stirred in him, although it didn't work very well.

"I see… and Pride is still aware?" the ancient being asked, and Selim quickly nodded, feeling Pride's presence start to perk up at the mention of his true self. Staring at Father, the black haired boy really couldn't tell what he was thinking. His mind was like a wall, and it scared him. He'd rather have to deal with someone like Envy, since at least then he knew he was about to be attacked.

When the man stood up, Selim almost instantly made the shadows rise higher in protection. It didn't seem to bother Father any, the old being just continuing to walk towards him. Selim didn't attempt to attack though, since he'd hadn't actually done anything threatening yet. Something told him that if he made the first move, then things would end very badly, very quickly. Of course, the same thing could happen if he waited too long to act as well.

"Are you going to help me?" Selim asked at last, not able to stand the silence and Father just looking him over again and again. This had been a very bad idea, what in the world was he thinking? He was going to die or something, and it was all because of his own stupid decision to go back to a place he'd known he shouldn't have. Just like last time.

Father turned back around and sat down in his large chair before speaking again, and Selim tried to keep his anxiety and worry in check as he waited for the answer. Of course, even if he did say he would help, he could very well be lying, and he'd just end up dieing no matter what. There wasn't any way for him to really know if what he said was true or not, but at least knowing if he was about to be attacked and killed for certain would be slightly helpful.

Selim's entire focus was on the man, until something moving out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Swirling around, he was just barely able to make out a solid block of stone flying towards him, alchemical lights still flickering around it's exterior. The child wasn't able to focus his mind fast enough to move the shadows to protect himself, and the last thing he felt was rock smashing into his borrowed body, effectively knocking him out cold.

Slowly Selim started to come to, but the pain in his head wouldn't allow him to concentrate on what was really going on around him. What had he been doing before he fell asleep? Something… something important. Attempting to reach up and rub his head where it was the most sore, he found that his arms wouldn't budge. Finally managing to open his eyes due to the shock, he found himself staring at a dark grey ceiling, mostly covered in shadows from being so high out of reach from the small amount of light the room had.

Selim wasn't able to keep the cold panic from gripping him this time, almost instantly beginning to struggle against the binds that held not just his arms, but his entire body down. What had happened before was quickly coming back to him, and it was harder than anything to keep himself from starting to cry. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? He'd been trying so hard not to die, and then he'd walked right up to death's door. Those homunculus were no doubt going to expel him in the quickest way possible, and that probably didn't involve finding a way for him to survive and go back home and into his real body.

The sound of footsteps to his side made Selim snap his head to the left, quickly catching sight of the man like creature that had put him into this position. He could only manage to struggle even harder at the sight, not that it appeared to faze the ancient homunculus at all.

Reaching his side, he grabbed Selim's face his hands and forced him to stare at him without moving. The black haired child kept trying to get his head out of the old man's grasp, but he was stronger than he looked, probably on the account of not actually being human, and his finger nails would dig into Selim's cheeks whenever he tried to twist his head away too far.

"L-let me go!" Selim yelled, surprised that he had actually managed to get up the courage to. If he really thought about it though, it wasn't really courage more so than it was fear causing him to struggle as hard as he possibly could. Not to mention, he had already promised himself that he wasn't going to go down again without a fight.

Father didn't appear at all fazed by the struggling and distraught child pinned in front of him. The black haired boy wondered how he could look so distant when it was the spitting image of what was apparently his first and favorite child struggling in front of him. Of course, with the way Pride acted sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder what their relationship was really like. What if he didn't try to expel his mind at all? What if he just decided to kill him all together?

Insult bubbling inside of Pride caused the sin to emerge and speak for the first time since he'd started his way down to this god forsaken place.

"_How dare you! Father would never consider such a thing! He will easily give me back control of the container he made for me,"_ the internal sin defended venomously. Selim slowed in his struggle just slightly as he thought about what Pride had said. It was obvious that he truly believed that, but then again…

"**Yeah… that's what I'd thought too, about my father…**" the black haired boy thought weakly. Pride was actually quiet for a moment before practically growling again as he fought against any chance that his beloved father would possibly even consider destroying him when there could be an easy way to save him and get a loyal and powerful support back into his control before the promised day.

"_Don't apply your pathetic life and human family to mine. You made the decision to come here on your own, so just accept your fate already,_" the sin spat, and Selim practically stopped fighting against his restrains at the information sank in. He was right, and there was no way he was going to work his way out of the bindings by himself. Father stared down at him, something almost akin to curiosity in his eyes as he attempted to decipher just what had happened to his oldest child.

"How did you end up in this state?" the man asked, his booming voice knocking Selim out of his internal dialogue and getting the boy's attention focused solely back onto him. It took Selim a moment to realize what he had asked, and a second longer to form together an answer in his head.

"I had been killed an sent to a place with a strange door, although I was told it's called the Gate, and this figure I told you about before said I could live, and I woke up in Pride's container," Selim managed to explain, staring up at Father as he waited for him to respond. He hadn't been killed yet or knocked unconscious again, so at the very least he could be thankful for that. He really didn't have very much to be thankful for.

"As you told me before?" the blonde man asked, and Selim just now realized that no one had actually figured out that he'd been in control the entire time. They really did think that he had managed to take control back from Pride and escape again. The conflicting emotions he could feel radiating inside of the arrogant internal sin distracted him somewhat, but he quickly tried to push them to the back of his mind as he started to explain again. There wasn't any point in lying, after all. There wasn't anything he could gain from it anymore, after all. Who knows, maybe he could actually impress the being that he'd been able to trick him.

"Pride had never been able to get control back… that had been me, the last time I was captured," the black haired boy explained, and watched as the older man nodded in understanding. The child still couldn't tell hide nor hair of what he was thinking though, it was like he wasn't even human… If he could slap himself, he would have. Of course he wasn't human, but even Pride and the other homunculus he met acted more human than this one.

"I see…" was all he said, before walking away to a place just outside of Selim's vision. He could still hear him though, and he was trying to hold in his fear that he might be seen as he started to let some of the shadows manifest themselves and shift themselves into razor sharp edges.

Concentrating as hard as he could the small child made sure that the shadows wouldn't slice into himself as he had them easily break the binds that held him down. He just laid there for a minute, practically frozen as he tried to think of what to do. He hadn't even move when making that last transmutation. He had no idea how that was possible, but really he didn't doubt anything anymore. He just wanted be able to think of a way out of here without being killed.

Taking a deep breath, he wasn't able to think of any other plan besides 'run' and decided to just act on that if he had no other choice. Springing up, he tried to keep the shadows in a sort of protective barrier between him and the ancient being.

Before he was able to make it to the door, a large alchemic flash left the room completely black, and something rock hard was wrapped around the child's leg at an awkward angle, keeping him from moving at all. All the shadows were gone now, and any attempt at bringing them back failed.

He could hear the sound of Father walking towards him, until he was practically towering over him in the dark. There was no way for Selim to get his leg free, it was keeping everything he had for the child to just keep from breaking it. He tried to hide the panic and fear that was increasing like crazy now, but even in the blackness that seemed to hide everything else, he knew it was still obvious.

"Now then, where were we? I don't remember giving you any permission to leave, _Selim Bradley._"

* * *

Hurray, finally finished. This chapter was kind of difficult, if for the character of Father alone. He's such an enigma and all mentally disturbed, I wanted to make sure I got him right. Still not sure if it was a complete success, but I hope you all liked it anyway. As always, please review.


	36. Chapter 34

Aurgggg! I'm sorry for dying for almost two months now! About two thirds of the time was justified in a combination of college deadlines, moving into a new house, and my schoolasitics deadline. The other one third was thanklessly ripped away from me by Avatar the Last Airbender. I don't even know why either, it was just randomly "Let's watch the whole third season over again and then read a bazillion amazing fanfics off the recommendations page on TV tropes!"

Hehheh, anyway. Here's the next chapter, and once again, sorry about the wait.

Chapter 34

Selim stared up at the tall man looming over him. His entire body felt frozen in fear. Why wouldn't the shadows work? Somehow he managed to keep himself from tearing up as each attempt to get his only form of protection to manifest itself failed. It took nearly all of the small boy's strength to keep himself at the awkward angle he was trapped in. If he tried to move into a more comfortable position, he had no doubt that the rocky encasement around his leg would cause the bone to snap with little difficulty.

"Now then, where were we? I don't remember giving you any permission to leave, _Selim Bradley,"_ Father said, sending chills up and down the child's spine as he said his name. It was the mix of suspicion and total disregard for his life that left Selim unable to respond. He had to get a hold of himself, but the absolute darkness closing in around him was not helping to calm his panic in the least.

Before he was able to do anything, he felt the stone wrapping on his leg disintegrate back into the ground, and collapsed to the floor with the little balance he had left gone. A large hand gracelessly gripped the back of his shirt, lifting him into the air and started to carry him to someplace he couldn't see. He couldn't see _anything _in this darkness.

"Let go of me!" he demanded weakly, beginning to struggle in Father's grasp. The blonde being placed his hand on Selim's back. "Ahhh!" the child screamed, spasms of electricity causing pain to shoot up and down his body. Pride's container. For a few seconds, Selim couldn't remember which one it was as he hung limply from the monster's hand. This body's was Pride's, that was right. Not his, he wasn't supposed to be here. He was anyway though, no matter how much he wished he wasn't.

He was placed back down on the same table that he'd attempted to escape from, but Father didn't bother with the bindings this time. Selim couldn't see whatever it was he was trying to do in the dark, but vaguely wondered how he was able to move around as efficiently as he was. It wasn't like he could see in the dark himself, right? Of course, maybe after living in the same place for hundreds of years, if Pride's stories were to be believed, he'd just memorized where everything was.

"**Pride… **_**please**_** help me. Why wont the shadows work?**" he asked, wishing more than anything that the being inside of him would cooperate just this once. It wasn't very likely, but even if he just knew why, it would ease his mind. Or at least, he hoped it would. He still wasn't thinking completely straight after the alchemic attack, random spikes of pain continuing to erupt all over his skin.

"_It's completely dark, isn't it? Shadows can not exist where there is no light. Father knows that well enough, he created me, after all. There's no way you could defeat someone who knows all your weaknesses,"_ Pride answered emotionlessly. It surprised Selim slightly that the homunculus admitted having weaknesses so easily, but that thought quickly left the child's mind. There was something wrong with the sin, although Selim couldn't figure out what at first. Suddenly it hit him, and he could feel his eyes widening in realization. Pride always talked about how Father cared about him, and would fix him as soon as he found out what happened…

"**Pride… I'm sorry Father just attacked you,**" the child said, the fog over his mind from said attack beginning to lift. Pride scoffed very openly at this, but Selim could feel a pang of hurt somewhere inside the sin, as if he'd hit a bit too close to home for him.

"_Idiot, he attacked you, not me,"_ Pride answered, but the tone of his voice seemed a bit less confident than he had wanted it to be. For the first time, the black haired boy wondered if Pride was still capable of feeling his container. He actually hoped not. He didn't want Pride to feel the spikes of pain that had rang through him.

Before Selim was able to actually ask the internal voice, his attention was turned back toward Father. The tall being was standing in front of him now, and Selim instinctively started to push himself back farther onto the table. He wanted as much distance between them as he could get.

It wasn't enough space though, and Father's hand was once again gripping the child's face, trying to get as good of a look as he could get in the complete lack of light. This of course, wasn't a very good look at all, and he roughly pushed Selim's head away. Breathing deeply, Selim wondered how the chances of him living changed with whether or not he tried to talk. It seemed pretty hopeless either way, but once again the silence was starting to unnerve him. Combined with not being able to tell where Father was half the time, at least if he got him to start speaking, he would be able to guess the direction that he was in.

"Now what?" the boy asked softly, half expecting the ancient being to just not answer him at all. Why should he? He had all the power, he could do whatever he wanted. The thought sent ice up and down his spine, which he unsuccessfully attempted to ignore.

"You claim to have come through the gate of truth, correct?" Father asked, and Selim nodded, before realizing that the ancient being probably couldn't actually see him in the darkness.

"Yes," he answered, wondering if he would try to send him back through. If he did then… he would be back home, right? He still had no idea what this 'home' would consist of anymore though. Would he even still be alive? He had died, when he really thought about it, and, that man… He had said this was the only way for him to live. Suddenly, he wasn't really sure about wanting to go back home, but it wasn't like there was any chance for him to actually escape, and he couldn't just live the rest of his life in Pride's stolen body.

It took Selim a little while to notice that Father had actually lit a few candles on another table. They were a bit too dim and a bit too far away for him to create any real shadows though. Even if he could, he didn't doubt that Father would just put them out and attack him again.

Father was standing with his back turned to the child now, and a thought ran through Selim's head. It was stupid, there was no way for him to just sneak out while his back was turned. He'd just be killed. He couldn't see a thing, and Father would notice before he was able to get far enough away. The thought wouldn't leave him alone though, and the longer that Father kept his back turned, the more he couldn't help but glance around.

It wasn't worth the risk. He was probably going to die anyway. If he got caught, Father would hurt him again. If he escaped, he might be able to live. There was no way he could actually get out. There _might _be a chance…

Pushing himself off the table, he tried to be quieter than he'd ever had before. The humanoid being didn't seem to have noticed yet, and the child took a few tentative steps. He couldn't see anything, and after every step he looked back to where Father was very faintly aglow in the candle light. Three steps, nothing… Five… Seven… Ten…

Selim felt his heart drop into his stomach when his foot seemed to get caught on something. All of his muscles seemed to lock up in his panic, but all that did was cause him to fall to the ground, creating even more noise. He could just barely hear the sound of Father's sandals hitting the stone floor. Everything else seemed to be blocked out by the blood rushing in his ears. He wasn't breathing, but he imagined the old monstrosity could hear his thumping heart beat.

"Attempting to escape again?" Father asked, his featureless tone more frightening than any anger that Selim could think of. Without thinking, he shook his head, staring up where he assumed the fake man's face to be in the dark. He _wished_ he could see. His foot was still lodged in something, he guessed those wires that seemed to be lying all throughout the area, but he didn't dare try to remove it. He knew this wasn't going to work! Tears were starting to form at the edges of his eyes now. What was he _thinking?_

The next thing he felt was a huge push on his back, his pupils dilating from the shock. In the crackling red light of a transmutation, he could see… something… something sharp sticking out of his stomach. Selim couldn't even scream as the pain hit him.

No. No nonono. The word just kept repeating in his fading mind. No no no no no. Pride said Father would never kill him. He wasn't Pride. He wasn't… He wasn't going to die. He couldn't die… die… Oh god, he didn't want to die again. He didn't want to! He couldn't feel the tears streaming down from his eyes as everything faded to black.

He wasn't sure what was going on now. Selim didn't recognize the white space at first. There didn't seem to be anything there, but once he turned around he gasped in shock. It was that door or gate or whatever people called it. It was the second one thought, the one he came out of. Spinning back around on his heel, the white figure was back again. He was still smiling, the only feature Selim could see, and the child didn't know what to say, if anything. So instead, he just stood there, gaping at the being, who chuckled slightly.

"No… not yet," the Truth said, completely confusing the poor boy even more than he already was. Selim gasped as wisps of darkness shot out of the now open gate and wrapped around him, beginning to pull him back. Even in his panic, he couldn't help but notice how similar they were to Pride's own power. They were just bindings right now, but he didn't doubt that they could turn into spikes, or hands, or whatever the white figure wanted of them.

The next thing he knew, his eyes were shot open. He still couldn't see anything, and he wasn't entirely sure where he was or if he was even still alive. Feeling his stomach, there wasn't anything there. It had completely healed… Slowly, the panic started to subside, and he started to become aware of the world around him once again. There were dried streaks of tears running down his face, and the candles were still flickering lightly across the large room. He was still in Pride's body, and he was alive…

Finally, he managed to focus on Father again. The ancient homunculus was staring down at him, and Selim found himself unable to form words as he looked up at him from the floor.

"Get back on the table," Father commanded, and Selim didn't even think about disobeying. No wonder Pride was so obedient. There wasn't any wound left, but he'd still… he just killed him, without a second thought… Of course, he wasn't Pride, so it wasn't like he was actually doing it to the true owner of the container, right? Selim wasn't too sure.

"**Pride?**" the child asked softly, beginning to get more and more confused. Was Pride telling the truth when he said Father would never hurt him? Did his container count as him, even if someone else was in control? He was probably just doing all of this in order to get Pride back in control, so it was for him in the end. The answer he received didn't exactly reinforce any of those thoughts.

"_Shut up…_" the homunculus said weakly.

"**B-but,**" Selim started again. He wasn't able to get past that though, Pride quickly cutting him off after the first word.

"_Shut. Up. Shut up! I am not talking to you anymore! How dare you force Father to attack me!_" Pride yelled, leaving Selim stunned silent. He hadn't forced Father to do anything. He was just a little kid, and he was powerless now. There were a million other ways he could have dealt with him besides attacking, let alone killing him. He wasn't going to try to tell Pride that though. He probably already knew, but just didn't want to accept it.

Sneaking a glance over at the humanoid beast called Father, he wondered just what he had done to deserve such undying loyalty.

* * *

And done! Once again, _I'm so sarrry! _(Insert whiny JackJackJack voice my brother does). I hope that this chapter was at least semi worth it. All I have to say it, poor Pride. Why does he have to be so pitiable?

Well, please review, and thank you all for being so patient with me.


	37. Chapter 35

Ahhh! I'm so sorry! I did not mean to take _another_ two months. If you've been on my account recently, you saw that my computer was broke for the last three or so weeks. The rest of the time was due to some massive writers block for this chapter. It really held me back for quite some time, and I hope that what I came up with doesn't seem really bad or anything. Well, here's the long awaited chapter, I hope you all like it.

Chapter 35

Selim sat on the cold table, straining his eyes to try and see across the room to where Father was currently working. He'd run out of plans, and didn't know what else he could do besides wait for the ancient beast to decide just how he wanted to kill him.

It wasn't fair. He knew that there had to be some way out, but he was only a little kid. He couldn't use Pride's shadow powers anymore in this darkness, and there wasn't any way that Pride would even consider helping him ever again. Not after he'd 'made' Father attack him, after all. Somehow, despite all this, he managed to keep himself from crying. He didn't know if it was just because of him trying to put on some sort of brave face, or if he'd simply gone past the point of tears.

He'd sworn he wasn't going to go down without a fight this time though. He'd already been killed once by this man though, there wasn't any doubt that he could do it again. Most likely permanently this time too.

So, how was he supposed to fight something that was hundreds of year older than him, smarter than him and stronger and larger than him? He couldn't. It might have been the panic or the child still inside of been practically screaming that it didn't want to die yet, but he still wanted to try. Even as he shuddered remembering the pain that had shot through him at being electrocuted and impaled, if he could possibly pull something and live, then it would be worth it, right?

Listening to the sound of the sandals hitting the stone floor, Selim nodded subtly to himself. It would be worth it, so now he just had to figure out what to do. Something smart this time. Not running away hopelessly and idiotically like before.

"So…" he started into the darkness. He heard the tapping of the sandals stop as he caught the old being's attention "you were talking about the gate thing?" he asked, not entirely sure where he was going with this. All he knew was that it was very hard to keep the absolute panic inside of him under control. It was like trying to go up and talk to a rabid bear or something. There was nothing safe at all about this, but it was either this or certain death, at least in his own head.

"Yes," was all that Father said. His tone sounded very cold, and it almost kept Selim from continuing. He had to keep talking though, it was the only idea he had at the moment. It was highly unlikely that he could really get any useful information out of the being, but it wasn't like prodding Pride was an option anymore. The sin had completely closed himself off from Selim.

"I just went back there… when you killed me. The white being said that it wasn't time yet and sent me back though," he explained, although he wasn't entirely sure why. He could tell that Father was staring at him in the darkness now though, slightly interested in what he was saying. When he didn't say anything himself though, Selim decided to just continue.

"You're a great alchemist. Pride says the best ever, it should be easy for you to be able to send me back to my world through there, right?" he asked, hoping that maybe he would be able to actually convince him.

"If you think you can persuade me you're a fool. I've purged all sins from myself, including Pride," Father said blankly. Selim just nodded though, not about to let it seem like that had got him down. It had, but he already suspected a bit that something that simple wouldn't have worked anyway.

"I know. Pride told me that already. Pride's told me a lot of things… He talks about you a lot," he mumbled, more curious to see how the being would react to something like that then actually thinking it would help with him surviving any.

Father didn't say anything, and for a moment Selim wondered if he actually heard him or not. He really doubted that this beast had such bad hearing that a child mumbling less than a few feet away would escape his knowledge. Either way though, what he had said apparently wasn't deserving or interesting enough to get any sort of answer.

Taking a deep breath, Selim tried to gather his courage to ask his next question. The answer was probably yes, but it would be better to just ask and get it over with so that he would know how little time he had to attempt to get out of here somehow. Even if it was a pointless fight, he was going to do it, but right now he still didn't know exactly how pointless.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked quietly. The room was silent for a few moments, he guessed as Father thought over the question. Or he could just be purposefully making him wait to hear the answer to scare him. He didn't know if the ancient being would do something like that though.

"I need to purge you from the body of my homunculus, if that results in your death it bares no effect to me," Father said after a while. Slowly, Selim was able to force himself to nod. He spoke about it all so logically, he almost couldn't understand it. He guessed that's what the old being really meant when he said that he purged himself of all sins. It was like a purge of emotions.

Selim sat in silence after that, still completely dumbfounded. Father was going to 'purge' him from Pride's body, just like Pride had said he would. There was no doubt that would end up killing him. So, he could…. What? There wasn't anything he could do to fight. Not in this darkness, and not against something as powerful as Father.

He could hear Father coming back towards him now and almost instinctively sat up a bit straighter. He could just make out the form of the man when he was directly in front of him, but he was mainly focused on his face. He didn't notice the hands coming towards him until they touched.

He could feel the alchemical energy running through his body. It didn't hurt like the electrical shock had, but instead made everything feel numb, causing the child to go limp. He was still awake though, his mind now in a panic. What had that man done to him? It wasn't like any kind of weakness he'd felt before. It was almost like someone had severed the connection his mind had with his body.

Father repositioned Pride's container so that it was lying out on the table again. Selim wished he could squeeze his eyes shut, but nothing was working. The child's panic continued to increase as all of his internal struggling brought absolutely no change whatsoever.

Was Father already starting to expel his soul? He didn't know if this was how it worked, but he wasn't able to look down at himself and see if anything was changing. At the very least, he hadn't expected it to be so fast. He'd just touched him and now everything was going so wrong.

And to think that he wanted to try and fight back. How was he supposed to fight if he couldn't even close his eyes, let alone move or god forbid attempt to attack? He couldn't. He couldn't fight back, or scream or cry or anything. His mind was pretty much blank with panic when Father's form appeared above him, and once again those terrifying hands came down on him.

This time, the alchemic energy flowing through him knocked his mind out as well. Selim was actually thankful for the very brief moment he was aware of the fade. He didn't want to have to deal with that torture of pure helplessness for a second longer.

…

Selim was beyond surprised when he actually found himself regaining conscious yet again. He had thought beyond a shadow of a doubt that Father would have forced him out of Pride's container and killed him in the process. Opening his eyes, he was once again greeted by the same extreme darkness as before. He found that he could actually push himself up though, and could still feel the strange energy flowing through him that was so very different from his own body.

He realized with a start that he couldn't actually remember what it felt like to be in his own body. Before any of that was able to really sink into the child, the sound of someone walking towards him met his stolen ears.

A wave of fear washed over him when he realized that it wasn't the same tapping of sandals that he'd come to recognize as Father, but the controlled echoes of what Selim could only figure was some sort of boot. Turning towards the sound, he couldn't see any details of the large man no matter how much he strained his eyes. The silhouette had a very familiar look to it however, and somehow Selim managed to reign in the fear he felt enough to talk.

"Who's there?" he asked, not really surprised at how terrified he sounded or the way his voice cracked on him. He didn't know where Father was anymore, but that did not mean that he had left. No, chances are he was probably somewhere in the room. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't completely wrap his head around the fact that he was still alive, and he had no idea how he was even still functioning.

"Still the child then? Your interference is really starting to become a nuisance, boy," Selim felt his breath hitch at the familiar and undeniable voice. Somehow though, he didn't turn into the whimpering mess he'd thought he would. After all, this person had already killed him once, but maybe that was a part of the reason why he managed to keep his composure. There wasn't anything worse he could possibly do to him after that.

"Fa-Wrath…" he started, surprised he was able to remember what he'd heard the other homunculus calling this version of his father. "Why haven't you killed me yet?" he asked weakly, not able to get the question out of his head. He should be dead by now, but apparently they'd failed to get him out of Pride's body while he was knocked out.

"You wont have much longer, don't worry about that," the older looking man said, causing the boy to shrink back. If he was just able to get out of this darkness he might be able to fight back. Well, the key word there was might, but that the very least he wouldn't feel like he had absolutely no options.

Even still, the fact that he hadn't really answered the question had to count for something, right? Had they just not been able to figure it out yet? Selim wasn't entirely sure why the idea surprised him so much. Maybe it was the way that Pride always spoke about Father as an all powerful being. He'd assumed it would be a simple task to get the small boy out of the homunculus' body. Apparently dealing with souls was a bit more complicated than he originally thought.

It seemed rather jarring that Pride didn't speak up at his dismissal of Father's power. Had the sin cut himself off from the child so much that he couldn't even hear Selim's thoughts anymore? Or maybe he was just ignoring him. He guessed it didn't matter which ever one was true, it wasn't like the black haired boy had any ways to actually find out.

"Where's Father?" he managed to ask this time, not liking the silence combined with the lack of sight. He wondered if the other homunculus could see in the dark, or if Pride was somehow the odd one out or if _he_ just couldn't because he was in Pride's body. Of course, since the sin was probably never meant to be in total darkness since it caused his powers to become inefficient, there wasn't any need for him to be able to have the power to see.

"You aren't in the position to be asking questions," Wrath said. Selim frowned, starting to get confused now.

"Why won't you answer anything? Did something go wrong?" he asked, some courage starting to build up as he put his mind towards trying to figure out what was going on. They hadn't been able to expel him. For now, he could only count that as a good thing. At the very least, it was buying him some time. To do what, he didn't know yet.

Selim's entire body stiffened as something cold and sharp was pressed lightly against his neck. It didn't take much effort to guess that it was probably a sword of some kind. He didn't doubt the fact that they would resort to killing him anymore, he just wasn't entirely sure if the death would take. Even if it didn't, he didn't want to make it three for three.

"You've gained a backbone since you first appeared," Wrath said matter-of-factly. Selim resisted the urge to nod, the sword keeping him from moving much at all. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he did end up dying again. How many lives did Pride's body have? Despite his curiosity, he didn't truly desire to find out.

"I know…" he started. Steadying himself, he prepared to continue, hoping that he wouldn't cause what was apparently an embodiment of wrath to go over the edge. "A-and I'm not going to just die this time. I will go home," he finished, surprised that he actually managed to get those words out. He couldn't see Wrath's expression, but he was positive it was anything but amused.

Selim's eyes widened as he felt the blade slice into his neck slightly, although no blood came out. He was pretty sure that Pride couldn't bleed, anyway.

"You're not going anywhere, boy."

As the sword sliced deeper into his neck, Selim felt a strange pulling sensation similar to when he'd first been killed with that spike by Father, but hadn't noticed due to the shock and fear. Those same feelings were wracking his body once more, but not as intensely. He was still able to form a coherent thought even as he died once again.

That thought was that Wrath was probably right. There was no way out of here for him. No way out but death.

* * *

Ahhhhh! This chapter! This. Stupid. Chapter. It did not want to be written. I still don't know if I'm happy with it, and I had to push a very important scene back to the next chapter instead. At least now I kind of think I have this figured out. Pro-tip: Never leave the most important plot point to your entire story not figured out all the way up until the moment you get to it.

Anyway, so sorry once again for the extreme wait and I really hope you all liked the chapter. Like I said, got really nervous about this one. As always please review and tell me what ya'll think.


	38. Bonus Chapter Silent Observations

Hello everyone. I didn't take two months this time, hurray~ Also, as you could probably tell, this isn't a normal chapter per say. Yes, I know right up near the end and you all expected a super climactic chapter, but this chapter _does_ contribute to the story, and in my opinion we've been missing quite a bit of Pride in the last couple chapters. So, for both that and to say woohoo! Over 155 reviews, thank you all so much; here's a bonus chapter.

Bonus - Silent Observations

_Pathetic. _This little, shriveling, disgrace of life was absolutely pathetic. If the homunculus currently entrapped within layers upon layers of screaming souls was a bit less deluded in his ability to feel other emotions, he would have known the feeling bubbling inside of his as a searing rage.

The human soul that hijacked his body had been in control for far too long, but it seemed that finally the little beast's luck had managed to run out. It still boggled Pride's mind that a mere child had managed to evade capture by his siblings for so long. Of course, the boy had learned how to gain a basic control over his shadows in a relatively short amount of time. It wasn't Pride's fault if his powers were so strong that even someone who'd only just started to learn how to use them could readily defend himself against some of the most powerful beings ever created.

As he looked through the eyes of his container, eyes that he would soon once again be in control of, all he could see was the piercing darkness that the child had managed to land himself in.

Yes, just as he'd thought before, the boy's time in his container would soon be at an end. He was trapped with Father now, and he knew that his creator would be able to eject this single wayward soul out of his philosopher's stone or wherever it had hidden itself with ease. There was no way he would be able to scheme or fight his way out this time.

The boy had been a fool for thinking that he could _ever _stand a chance against someone so ancient and powerful.

Of course, Pride couldn't see Father at the moment, despite the fact that he'd managed to keep the ability to see out of his involuntarily moving eyes. The measures that his creator had to take in order to keep the human safely under control were trivial in the grand scheme of things, and so the sin knew that there was no reason for him to detest _any _of it.

Pride distinctly ignored the shudder that ran through whatever it was that constituted for the form he was locked in now. He was even almost able to block out the absolute hatred he had felt when the human had been not only foolish enough to attempt to run away, but also get himself caught.

Everything that Father had done was for his benefit, and was of course the best thing he could have done at any given moment. That included everything to the bindings that he had first placed the child into to the particularly brutal way he'd gutted his container only a few moments ago.

Even if the sin couldn't see the entire reasoning behind some of those things, there was no reason to question them. After all, Pride just had to remind himself that Father was perfect; he would be a god before the end of next year. Doubting _anything_ he did would make him just as foolish as the pathetic child who's fear was causing his stolen container to shake like a leaf in the wind.

After all, Father knew that it wasn't really _him _controlling his container at the moment. His creator would never actually do something like that to him. He was his favorite child, and undoubtfully loyal to his plans.

Father was near them now; close enough for Pride to see his subtle outline in the near absolute darkness. The sin wasn't able to hear him though, having holed himself so far up inside of his own mind that it was almost as if he were under water. It was the only way to keep from hearing that infernal brat though, so he didn't attempt to uncover himself enough to listen to his Father's words. He would be able to catch up on any sort of changes or advances in their plans once he cleansed his container free of the boy. He highly doubted that Father would say anything of true importance to such a lowlife being as the child, anyway.

An odd tingling sensation that engulfed him suddenly brought Pride out of his thoughts, but any attempts to see out of his eyes only resulted in the same blackness as before. Well, when he focused on it more closely, he could tell that there was something slightly different about it. It was still something he recognized though. The child had closed his eyes for some reason or another, either by choice or as a result of the energy that had coursed through them.

The way that the raging souls inside of him calmed however was a new and strange sensation. The tormented creatures started to slowly twist around him instead of the fast moving vortex they'd been whipping around as only moments ago. Their shrieks had practically stopped as well, turning into low, agonizing moans instead.

A small smirk started to form on his not quite face. Of course, this was obviously a result of Father attempting to finally free him from his prison. It would only be a matter of time now before he found the correct soul to reject and he'd be able to help them all again, like he was supposed to.

And so Pride waited. Surely any time that seemed to pass was exaggerated by his desire to be rid of his entrapment. He doubted it would take any longer than an hour before everything was complete and he could move of his own accord again.

It took much longer than an hour for Pride to admit that it had been even _that _long, and he quickly started to mistrust whatever was left of his internal clock. Several times the souls began to stir up faster and faster, until the same pinpricks as before would surround all of them, and they're return to their sluggish state.

Pride realized after one of these cycles that the souls acted a lot like smoked out bees. The way that what the sin could only assume to be Father's alchemy dulling their primal need to escape and scream out in their eternal pain.

Twelve times were the souls required to be dulled, but Pride forced himself to wait patiently. It wasn't like there was actually anything else he could do, unable to sleep or move or do anything of any sorts in the position he was locked in. He wouldn't have tried to rush Father even if he could. He knew that his creator was doing all and everything he could do to return him control.

The thirteenths time that the souls started to pick up pace, Pride was surprised to find that the tingling of Father's alchemy never came. It wasn't long before they were back at their high speed racing around him, screaming out words he couldn't understand and had absolutely no desire to.

The sin attempted to open his container's eyes, to move an arm, a shadow, _anything,_ but all was met with the same strange disconnect as had been before. Desperately he fought off the initial wave of disappointment. Father _had not _failed, there must simply be more steps to this process than Pride had first assumed. Soon, the second stage would be underway, and surely after that he would be free of this human boy.

Said boy had seemed to have found now as the perfect time to awake from his slumber, although Pride couldn't see a thing in the darkness that continued to encase them both.

He wasn't able to hear whatever it was that had caught the boy's attention, but watched with interest as he stared at a particular spot in the black shroud. It became rather boring, not that the ancient sin would ever admit such a thing, staring at the nothing that the human must have been having some sort of conversation with.

Pride was just barely able to notice his container stiffening up, as well as see just the very subtle outline of whoever was close to them now. He didn't think it was father, and from the height and build, the only one of his siblings who matched would have been Wrath. Pride didn't quite understand how the boy had managed to keep his cool talking to him for so long, he'd always seemed oh so fearful of the man, but didn't let that distract him. Reluctantly he had to admit that this wasn't the first time the human would have surprised him.

The horrible red light that immediately started flashing around him, combined with the absolute mayhem the already spastic souls went into caused Pride to grind his teeth, glaring out at what he could only assume to be Wrath. Soon, he the small connection he had to his container's eyes were gone, and he was trapped within the panicked souls as several were used in order to keep his container alive. One thought was ringing through his mind now, covered in bitter hatred at the _pathetic, little, disgrace of a life _that had control of his container still.

That damn Selim Bradley had gotten him killed _again._

* * *

Hooray, bonus chapter is complete! I hope you all liked the look into what Pride's been doing all this time, and I do hope to get the next chapter out soon, hopefully within the next two weeks. Sadly, I can not make any promises, but if everything goes well I should be able to stick to this deadline.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always please review.


	39. Chapter 36

Hello people. Um, so, this chapter. I'm nervous. It's like, the big, pinnacle of a story almost two years in the making, so I really, really want it to be good. I've never finished a story before, but after this it's only a hop, skip and a jump until the ending. So yeah, I really hope that I'm able to keep up the same level of skill and realistic plot-ness that I've had for the majority of this story. I guess I should stop rambling now, and just let you all read and be the judge of it yourself.

Chapter 36

Selim no longer felt the pain from what had to have been a horrible gash in his neck when he managed to open his eyes. He wasn't surprised at that fact once he realized just where he was, the crystal whiteness of his surroundings giving it away before he even laid eyes on the featureless figure.

The black haired child frowned. It was _this _thing's fault he was in this whole mess to begin with, and he wasn't going to leave without an answer this time.

"Why'd you do this to me? I want to go home," he demanded, although he had absolutely no idea how the being would react to his declaration. The already large smile on its face only seemed to grow larger though, and Selim had to resist the urge to shrink away. He was really getting tired of hiding anyway.

"I didn't do anything. You were the one to take the deal," the truth said. Selim actually found himself glaring at the being, but nodded none the less. Now that it was mentioned, he did remember taking some form of a deal, but…

"But you never told me what the deal was! You just said to walk through the door and I'd live!" he yelled. The being didn't make any move to speak or contradict him, and Selim drew in a deep breath, not entirely sure if what he was about to do was a good idea or not. He did _not _want to die, let alone voluntarily, but this was just getting ridiculous. He wasn't Pride, he couldn't keep running around in the homunculus's body. He didn't even have anywhere left to run.

"I want to retract the deal. If I was supposed to die when father killed me then there's nothing I can do about that. I'm not supposed to be here," he managed, surprised that he hadn't stuttered or tripped over his words even once. The white figure started chuckling slightly. Watching him though, Selim had no idea if that meant he was going to listen to what the black haired boy had said, or just send him back into Pride's body to be tortured and killed over and over again until Father eventually figured out how to do it permanently.

"So, are you giving up?" the white being asked, and instantly Selim started to shake his head. That was the last thing he wanted to do. "Oh really? Then how else would you describe it?" he questioned, and the black haired boy had to think for a moment before finally answering.

"I don't want to die, but I'm _not _supposed to be here. You're like god right? Can't you give me another chance? Send me back home, I wont be stupid enough to let myself get killed a second time," he said. The mile long smile seemed to disappear from the truth's face for a moment as the creature thought. Even still, Selim highly doubted that he would actually take his offer.

He wasn't an alchemist; he hadn't thought about alchemy in any other way than a means to send him home in what felt like forever. There was one thing that he remembered from the simplified books he'd struggled through once upon a time ago. You could not bring the dead back to life, and he doubted that bargaining with this being, god or no god, was going to change that.

"You've certainly changed, haven't you?" truth asked, an almost joking sound to his voice. Selim didn't smile though, instead just shrugging as he stared at the being, an untrusting look in his eyes.

"I like to pretend that maybe that's the reason you did this whole thing in the first place," he said, watching as the smile once again appeared as truth's only feature. He couldn't help but wonder why it was a mouth, and not something more conventional like eyes instead. They were always thought to be symbolic and such, kind of like Pride's shadows, but he guessed that the only thing this being needed was a mouth so that it could talk anyway. Not that Selim doubted it could see him, just like he could hear him without any real ears. It probably just didn't use eyes to do it.

"Not far off, Selim Bradley," the truth said, and the child had to keep himself from showing his surprise too much. That actually sounded promising, but there was no way he was going to get his hopes up.

He'd yet to realize just how long he'd been here so far. Surely Pride body would have been healed by now, sucking his soul back inside with it.

"Well, what's the point of that change if I'm just going to die anyway? Send me back home," he repeated, wondering slightly if it was a smart idea to try to boss the metaphysical being around. Luckily, truth didn't seem offended, although Selim wasn't sure if he would be able to tell even if he was, since his features were so limited. He started chuckling again though, which the black haired child hoped might be a good sign.

"That does seem like it would be a waste, doesn't it?" he said. Selim stared at him, not even realizing he was holding his breath as he waited for the powerful being to continue. "If you want to retract the deal, that's your choice," he finished. The child nodded, slightly impressed with himself that he'd been able to keep his calm for so long. Truth was right though, he really had changed. He wasn't Pride, but he sure was a lot more like him than when he'd first started out.

"That's right, but I don't want to die either. Will you let me go home?" he asked, hoping to just get straight to the point. It was a yes or no question. Either he died now, or he was allowed to live. Well, there was always the option that the truth sent him back home only to die again immediately, but he wasn't considering that at the moment.

"Walk through the gate and find out. You seem to learn better through experience, anyway," the being said. Before Selim was able to say anything else, the white figure seemed to simply disappear, almost melting away into the scenery-less background.

Turning around, the black haired boy was faced with the same, levitating door like structure that had appeared every other time he'd been in this place. Whenever he had walked through it before though, he'd just ended up back in Pride's world, and wondered slightly if all of this was just a horrible joke. Getting his hopes up in order to bring them crashing back down again once he ended up back in that dark room, in Pride's container and facing his Father or Wrath or whoever else may be there now.

Watching it open to reveal the pitch blackness inside, so much like Pride's own unnatural shadow, he highly doubted that something so powerful would only be able to lead to a single destination.

It was the only exist he had from this limbo anyway, so it wasn't like he had any other options to begin with. Taking a deep breath, the child closed his eyes once the strange tendrils started towards him. They weren't really all that scary anymore, now that he'd controlled something so similar and had died a grand total of three times.

Who else could say that, really?

As he felt himself being rushed through the inside of the gate, he couldn't help but think how odd it felt to not have Pride there to answer him.

…

Wrath stared down at Pride's container, crackling with a red light as the wound he'd inflicted healed itself. It was taking much longer than was normal, but he figured that this anomaly was simply caused by the same factor as all the others. That strange, human boy who identified himself as Selim Bradley. He clearly wasn't an expert at controlling a homunculus's body yet, let alone was as… odd, as Pride's was, and healing seemed to take him longer than any true homunculus.

As the time ticked on, he wondered just how incompetent the human boy could really be.

Finally the light stopped, but Pride's container didn't spring back up or do anything yet. This wasn't what Father had said happened last time he'd been killed. It actually hadn't taken him very long to heal at all, and he'd been right back to his normal, interfering self once the wound was gone and he was once again alive.

Was the fool actually playing dead?

It had to have been another hour before the body finally started to show signs of life in the darkness. The chest began to rise and fall to show that it had continued to do the mock version of breathing that Pride had, and soon his arms started to twitch, before finally the child pushed the ancient homunculus' container into a sitting position. Watching him look around, it seemed as though he was completely stunned.

Running a hand through his stolen hair, Wrath was surprised to see the human soul turn straight towards him, a slightly perplexed but none the less relieved expression on his face. The fool had really thought he'd died then, hadn't he? It didn't surprise the youngest sin, with how long he had to have been stranded at the gate while Pride's container did the excruciatingly slow job of repairing his blow.

"Wrath, how did you get the human out of my container? Father already killed him once and it didn't take," the boy said, surprising him. Did he think that they would fall for this trick once again?

"Do you think we'd be foolish enough to fall for that trick again, child?" he asked. In the darkness, he could see the look of fury that overcame the container's face. Wrath had to admit that if it was still the human boy, he'd gotten much better at his acting than when they'd first met. Of course, the fact that he'd still managed to trick all of them, even Father the first time around, was quickly swept away in his mind.

"While I'm glad that you are being more cautious than you were the first time you allowed a mere human to deceive you, I _am _back in control. If you need proof, I'll gladly go over Father's plan, including the exact date of the Promised Day and current confirmed human sacrifices needed. Or maybe I'll explain the way that you were made a homunculus. It's your choice, Wrath," he said. The sin was not able to completely hide the way he kicked his legs back and forth as he sat on the edge of the table and fidgeted with his arms, trying to get used to the feeling of control being back after oh so long.

With a frown, Wrath nodded, although he didn't seem very pleased at being proven wrong.

"Forgive me for not believing you," he started off, although the tall man sounded anything but sincere, "but that human has been causing quite the… disturbance, since he's managed to overpower you," he finished. Pride glared at him in the darkness, but found himself unable to disagree with that statement. That foolish human had done a world of hurt on their plan that he would now have to start working to repair. And so close to the promised day too, he didn't have much time to waste.

"Yes, but I do wonder why he's suddenly gone," the ancient sin mused, a slight confusion tinting his voice as it cut through the darkness. Wrath nodded, although he didn't seem anywhere near as curious.

"Perhaps his soul had been used up to repair the wound on your container's neck. He was simply unlucky enough to be chosen instead of one of the other thousand souls," the tall man said, started to walk away from Pride, who nodded hesitantly.

"Perhaps," he agreed, although he slightly doubted that it was something like that. The human seemed to have much too good of a lucky streak for something like that to be his undoing. Before he was able to voice his objection to the idea, Wrath started speaking again as he walked farther and farther away from the other sin.

"I shall inform Father that you've _finally _returned to us immediately. We'll need to begin repairing the damage your parasite has caused without any more delay," he said, and Pride nodded, pushing himself off of the table and hurrying after the older appearing man. Of course, surely father would be glad to see that he'd finally gotten the control of the container he'd made for him back.

Any punishment he received for causing harm to their plan, no matter how indirectly, would be all too deserved. Father would never hurt any of them if it wasn't for their own good, after all, especially him. He was his favorite, after all, his first born.

The doubts that the foolish human soul Selim Bradley had were inconsequential now. They were wrong to begin with, and now he was gone. Thankfully, Pride would never had to deal with him or hear his annoying whiny voice or his endless questions or watch him use his own powers to fend off his brothers and wreak unknown havoc to his Father's plan ever again.

That was something he couldn't be happier about. The unanswered questions didn't matter anymore. He just had to focus on the future of their plans now.

Everything else didn't matter.

* * *

I… I don't know. Still so unsure. Did it seem too rushed? Not fast enough? This isn't the end, but like I said, a really, really crucial chapter. I really want to here your guy's opinions on it. You have no idea how much I just wanted to write 'and then, Selim- SUDDENLY GATES!' and just end it there.

Well, regardless, I hope you all liked the chapter, and as always, please review.


	40. Chapter 37

Akk! Sorry once again for taking forever. I had to go on a fan fiction hiatus through all of May so that I could actually graduate. It's summer now though, so I'll have plenty of time to focus on writing. Of course, we've arrived at the penultimate chapter, not including an epilogue, so there isn't really much left for me to write in the first place. Well, seeing as I have five _other _fics to worry about, one of them also concerning Pride, I'm sure I'll still have plenty to keep me busy.

Anyway, I'll just let you all read the chapter now.

Chapter 37

Pride followed Wrath the short distance to where they would find Father seated in the center of the main room. He couldn't help but relish the feeling of being able to move of his own accord after so long. Finally free of that retched human soul that had appeared out of no where and disturbed everything. No longer confined to the horrible swirling abyss of souls in his philosopher's stone.

The lights were back on now, and the sin couldn't help but feel much more comfortable about being out of the pitch darkness again. Pride didn't know if he'd lit the room because he knew that 'Selim Bradley' was now gone for good, or simply because he knew that there was no way that the child could do anything to harm him. He could easily kill him if he tried anything or just shut the lights off once again.

The childlike sin kept his gaze on the ground as they went, not allowing himself to look up even once they stopped. He didn't deserve to look at the large figure now looming over him until he was told he was allowed. Father didn't say anything as the two came into his line of sight, instead clearly waiting for whatever explanation they had for him.

"Father," Pride said, knowing that he was the one who needed to speak. Wrath didn't have anything to account for, all of this was on his head. The sin managed to keep his voice strong, despite the fear he didn't want to acknowledge stirring inside of him. He didn't have any right to fear whatever Father had planned for him after all. It was only what he deserved for both holding up and jeopardizing their plan as severely as he had.

Even if none of that hadn't actually been him, for he would never do something of his own accord to damage anything of Father's. They all knew that, he was the most loyal to Father out of all of them. It had been that bothersome human soul. But the fact that such a weak and pitiful being was able to take control of his container, the special container that Father had made just for him, was reason enough for Father to enact punishment.

"I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you so much, Father. The soul of the human has been expelled from my container, and I am ready to do whatever possible to erase all damage it might have caused and further the completion of your plan for the upcoming promised day," he said, bowing as he did. The ancient being stayed silent though, and Pride closed his eyes as he managed to force the next few words out.

"You may punish me as you wish, Father."

The room was deathly silent for a moment, Pride not daring to move an inch as he kneeled, eyes still closed tight and waiting for whatever judgment Father would pass onto him. They weren't closed in fear though, he simply did not deserve to see his creator until he had been properly punished and forgiven. There was no reason for him to fear Father.

Anything that idiotic fool of a human soul had said otherwise was completely wrong.

"It pleases me to finally have you back, Pride," Father's voice broke through the silence, "I have no doubt that you will be able to rectify any and all damage that has been caused in your absence," the childlike sin couldn't help but feel a bit of relief surge through him at those words, but kept himself from showing any of that outwardly. He doubted Father had finished yet, after all. Proving him correct, the powerful being continued.

"However, you are correct and must be punished,"

Pride didn't attempt to evade the sudden burning that engulfed him from the inside. Even if he tried to he knew that there would have been no way to run from Father once he had decided something, and once again Pride would have never gone against what his creator wished in the first place.

Even still, the searing pain was almost unbearable, the shadows that made up his true form seeming to dissolve from Father's power. The ancient being didn't even need to move from his spot, creating whatever reaction he wished inside of the first homunculus' container with nothing but a thought. Flashes of red were visible just within his line of sight, although the sin couldn't move to tell if the light was actually breaking through his container, or originated outside of it.

Pride was barely able to focus enough to even try to tell himself that the intensity of his current pain was simply due to the fact that he wasn't used to being able to physically feel yet. Since surely Father didn't mean for him to suffer quite _this _much.

The ancient sin quickly lost track of time as Father slowly, oh so very slowly seemed to tear apart his shadows into flakes of nothingness. The entire time he managed to keep himself from crying out or flinching away in pain. His stillness might have been slightly due to the fact that he simply didn't have enough shadows left to move his container about, no matter how much he would have assured it was because he wouldn't ever act against Father.

Eventually he found the pain begin to ease up, and his container slumped to the floor, unable to keep himself upright with so little shadows left inside him. It took several minutes before he was able to regenerate enough of them to push his container to kneel in front of Father, although he could tell that it would still be a bit longer before his shadows regenerated enough to stand. As it was now, they were just barely able to stretch out enough to fill his container, but no where near strong enough to support it.

Pride made sure to keep his head tilted towards the floor, eyes downcast, still not allowing himself the privilege of looking up at Father. Just because he'd been punished didn't mean that he could assume that he was worthy enough to make eye contact.

"You are forgiven, my child," Father said at last, and only then did Pride look up to see his creator. With _his _eyes that _he _controlled now. Not that bothersome human boy anymore.

"Thank you, Father," he said, bowing his head once again. After a small moment Pride managed to push himself to his feet, his shadows finally up in numbers enough to allow for him to. The souls of his philosopher's stone were depleted by at least a third of what they'd been before Father's punishment, not including the ones that had been used to repair him when that boy had gotten his container killed twice. He'd have to ask Father to replenish his stone, or find some more souls himself. That could come later though, right now he was just lucky enough to have gained Father's forgiveness at the moment.

"I expect any and all damage to your human visage will be taken care of immediately. Your siblings shall catch you up on everything else from your leave," the ancient being said, a monotonous coating to the way he spoke. Pride nodded instantly.

"Yes Father. I shall go see to that immediately," he said, giving a small bow before turning around to start down one of the long underground tunnels. Wrath started after him without a word, and Pride had almost forgotten that the other homunculus had been present the entire time.

"Wrath, what is the current story as to the whereabouts of my act?" Pride asked, his voice quickly going back to the confident and strong tone he usually kept when not in his human disguise. The voice that pathetic 'Selim Bradley' had somehow managed to copy well enough to trick not only the other homunculus, but Father himself.

"It's believed that the men who had kidnapped you the first time snuck back in and took you from the garden. We'll make sure to quickly capture someone to blame for the crime," Wrath said, not looking down at the shorter sin. Pride just nodded. That sounded believable, and it didn't matter whoever they ended up blaming, no one would trust the word of a criminal over a sweet child and the president.

"Alright, I'll leave that part up to you. Surely you can handle that," he said, not receiving any response from Wrath other than a small nod to show that he'd heard.

It wasn't long before the two sins found themselves at the end of the tunnel. Wrath quickly went above ground, starting to work on finding someone suitable to blame for his 'kidnapping' and set in motion everything needed in order to successfully return him with as little suspicion as possible.

Of course, they wouldn't be able to completely repair everything that bothersome soul had done. That pesky Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother were not only aware of his true identity now, but a slight grasp of what his powers were as well. To think that he'd actually managed to compromise something as important as two of their potential human sacrifices.

Shaking his head, Pride quickly told himself that nothing he'd done was beyond fixing. Father wouldn't have forgiven him otherwise. Just because those two now know about his status as a homunculus didn't mean that they could actually do anything about it, or even tell anyone for that matter. It was just as they couldn't tell anyone about the Fuhrer, everything would be fine.

The child-like sin only had to wait for about an hour before he was taken from the underground tunnel and escorted to where several stern looking military officers stood. They were in one of the more rundown outskirts of Central, it wouldn't be hard to say that whoever had kidnapped him had been hiding out here, or at the very least was staying here for the moment before taking him to move on to somewhere else.

Looking at the officers, Pride didn't know if all of them were fully in on the realities of what was going on. He barely paid any attention to which humans were required to be let in on their plans, but he knew it wasn't many. The majority of them here probably didn't know. Even if they did, there was always a chance of someone else coming by and seeing or overhearing them.

Because of this, Pride instantly shifted into his human act, unsuccessfully holding back tear and clinging like his life depended on it to his 'father'. From the way that several of the officers softened at the display, chances are he was right about them not knowing the full story.

It didn't take even ten minute before they reached the fuehrer's residence. Unlike the last time he'd come back, when that imposter had been acting as he acted, he couldn't even make it into the house for Mother had him in her arms. Muttering a million things into his hair about how she was never going to let him out of her sights again and that he was safe now and how those men were going to _pay _for taking away her baby for a second time.

Pride didn't say anything throughout this, sobbing and clinging to her much how the human boy had done the first time. Eventually the clearly worn out woman, no doubt having run herself ragged with worry and trying to look for her son, managed to pull herself together to pick him up as she stood. Pride didn't protest at all, just holding onto her tighter as she brought them inside of the house.

"It's okay dear, it's okay," she whispered, sitting them both down on the couch. She'd been repeating nearly the same exact thing over and over again for the past ten minutes now, but the ancient homunculus couldn't rightfully say that he minded. Pride managed to nod slightly, if just to show that he'd heard her and believed what she said.

Despite the delusion they kept her in of their game of house, she was actually a bit right. Everything was okay now, at least for him. Father had forgiven him, despite the excruciatingly painful punishment he'd had to endure and the depleted souls he'd have to soon replenish. It seemed like their public appearance was going to be healed almost seamlessly. Even mother would be fooled with little effort.

Life was going to go on for him. Even with the new hitches in their plan, once the promised day arrived they would win. Father would become a god, and everything would be right.

Most of all, he'd never have to think about that foolish human soul Selim Bradley ever, ever again.

* * *

Yes, finally got this done. Once again, sorry that it took so freaking long, I just really had absolutely no time to write. Even once I was finished with school, I've had to help clean my entire house for my graduation party and everything. Haha, at least it looks better now.  
The two year anniversary of this story is on the 16ths, so I'll try to update then, but seeing as it's only a week away I'm sorry if I'm not able to. It's summer now though, so hopefully I will.

Well yes, I hope you like this chapter, and no worries, we will finally get to Selim and what's happened to him on the next, and final real chapter. This was the final time we got to see Pride, so of course this had to happen first.


	41. Chapter 38

Well this is it. The final chapter. It's been a super fun ride, exactly two years to this day since I first uploaded the first chapter. This is also the very first long multi-chapter story that I've actually managed to finish, so I'm kind of proud of that.

Anyway, let's get on with this final chapter already, how about it?

Chapter 38

Selim opened his eyes to find himself back in that strange, yellow tinted space. Looking at it now, it was very similar to the white one he'd just left from, and turning around slowly he found himself once again standing before a huge stone entryway.

Looking it over for a second time, this one seemed a bit more… Selim couldn't tell if the word he was looking for was gaudy or grand, with the twisted forms of stone caught climbing over each other on either side, the huge, staring eye seeming focused solely on him alone and giant staircase leading up. Different from the sleek, floating gate from the other realm, but still feeling just as powerful, if slightly less personal. It didn't scare him nearly as much as the first time he'd been here though, but he guessed after dying multiple times a creepy door really wouldn't be all that fearsome.

Without any warning the doors began to part, splitting the eye carving clean in two. Selim managed to keep himself from flinching, despite the nervousness and anxiety fluttering around in his stomach.

There really wasn't anything he could do at this point, after all, but just wait and see what happened. If that strange being calling himself the Truth from the other Gate had sent him back here to only die permanently, then as much as he _wanted_ to fight against that and how much he _would have _tried anything he could to stop that from becoming a reality, he knew that there wasn't anything left to fight or do.

The only thing he'd had to help him this entire time had been his intelligence after all, and he was smart enough to know when something was impossible.

What seemed to be a million eyes all shot open at the same time, and despite himself Selim couldn't help but flinch. Tiny hands immediately sprung out afterwards, pulling the boy in without any form of struggle. It wasn't like the other gate's solid blackness that reminded him so much of Pride's shadows. Instead, it seemed to be a million, tiny beings all fighting to get a hand on him, to tear him apart piece by piece. Selim closed his eyes, trying to block out the way they all pulled at him, making his skin crawl.

Fighting now would just make the whole thing all the worse.

The transition was so sharp, it felt like someone had physically shocked him. The terrible black beings were suddenly just gone, and he no longer felt like he was traveling through a endless tunnel of space. The strange power that seemed to fill him for so long when he'd existed inside Pride's body was gone as well, and he couldn't even register at first that this was what a _real _body, what his body, felt like.

It took a few seconds for him to recover enough to remember to even breath, and as soon as he did Selim found himself almost doubled over in a coughing fit, not expecting the sudden smoky heat that filled his lungs.

"If humans are so inferior, how do you explain loving him?" the voice broke through his coughing fit and shocked him immediately. Without a second thought he pulled back with as much force as he could, breaking the hold on his shoulders he hadn't even yet noticed physically. Looking up, he saw the face of his father quickly contort into an angry, pained frown.

"You fool, what have you done?" he asked, starting to reach out towards Selim once again. This time though, the boy immediately backed up until he was out of his reach, fear shining in his eyes as he looked around for ways to keep his last experience from repeating itself.

He wasn't about to let that fear control him though, and quickly forced his wide eyes into a glare instead.

"Nothing!" he yelled, still backing towards the smashed doorway. His hands were shaking and clinging the bag on his shoulder now, which he'd practically forgotten was there in the first place.

That was right. This whole mess started because he went back to get his father's treasure. Because he wanted to protect it, and have his father be _proud _of him. He'd had enough pride to last a lifetime now though, and that _stupid _treasure that he didn't even know what it was had gotten him killed.

"I got…" he started bitterly, opening the bag and pulling the bundle inside out. Looking back at his 'father' he wasn't surprised to see the slight shock underneath the anger and pain. He was speaking with much more bite than he _ever _would have before all of this. "your treasure," he finished, holding it up for the man to see, but still staying well out of his reach.

"You _idiot,_" the man growled, struggling to take a step towards Selim, eyes trained on the bundle in his hands. The black haired boy took several more steps back, quickly making the connection of what this so called 'treasure' really meant. He didn't even flinch when he looked up to notice the strange mark on his normally covered eye. It was the same one Envy and Greed had on them in the other world.

"No, _Wrath,_" he spat, pulling the 'treasure' closer to his chest. He didn't miss the shock and confusion that passed over the older man's face, still looking on through the obvious pain he was trying to fight through to attack the boy. It was clear his mind was split though, trying to work out what the hell had gotten into his 'son' to act like _this._ To fight back and actually figure out there was more going on here than he ever should have known.

Just barely Selim noticed the man who was still pinned to the wall start to pull himself out. "I'm not dying this time!" he declared, although he highly doubted anyone in the room had any idea what he was talking about. With a smirk he took another step back.

"Whatever this _treasure _is, it's hurting you, isn't it?" he asked, although he didn't sound concerned at all. He almost sounded like he was mocking him. Like Pride.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the pinned man, Roy Mustang if he remembered correctly from all that time ago, had managed to free himself from the wall. Another smirk lit up his face, even though there was no longer any _need _to act like Pride. He wasn't acting anymore. Instead, it was a genuine, almost malicious joy in him at having figured a way out of this dilemma. Of knowing that he might actually be able to live to see another day.

"Mr. Mustang! Catch!" he yelled, throwing the bundle and watching as the fabric spiraled off it in the air. His 'father' didn't bother to pay him anymore heed now that he no longer held the strange item, instead turning as fast as he could towards Mustang in an attempt to stop him.

The second the 'treasure' fell into his hands, which Selim had finally managed to catch a glimpse of and see that it was a skull of all things, a huge tunnel of flames shot up, engulfing the homunculus at the center of the room. The boy scrambled farther out of the way, the heat practically unbearable even at the distance he'd already set himself at.

Stumbling into the doorway, Selim just sat unable to look away, frozen in horror as he watched the flames repeatedly build up around the man he'd used to call father, before dying down only to build up again. The grotesque form would only be able to regenerate slightly before being burnt to a crisp once again.

"I'll just keep killing you until you stay dead," Mustang said, glaring at the withering form flaring in front of him until _finally_ that seemed to be the case. The strange bubbling liquid that was left of his father burning, until even the skull was thrown into the flames. The child couldn't help but shudder when even the bones quickly melted away from the heat.

For a second both of them just stared at the tiny flame still flickering on the floor. Finally though Mustang sighed, and only then did the gravely injured man look back up to where Selim still sat in the broken doorway. Even without saying anything, which Selim wasn't sure if he even could anymore, his look clearly spoke for him.

_What the hell was that? !_

Selim laughed nervously, avoiding the man's piecing eyes and holding onto the doorframe as he helped himself up.

"Um, you need help, don't you? We should probably go find a doctor or something…" he started hesitantly, not having any idea what he could say about what just happened. Reluctantly, Mustang nodded, and Selim couldn't help but sigh in relief. He wasn't going to try to get any answers out of him, for now at least.

Quickly, the child tried his best to help him through the still burning house. The smoke caused Selim to cough like crazy, and Mustang's extensive injuries forced them to move at a much slower pace than either would have liked. The second they stepped outside, the black haired boy couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief.

All of this. It was all finally over.

Then the gunshot went off. Mr. Mustang crumpled next to him. Selim jolted, running behind one of the busted columns that used to line the front of their house, just trying to keep himself out of the way of whatever it was coming. The child couldn't even scream as he peeked around the side to see the half-human, half-machine man that had crashed into his car what seemed like months ago.

More gunshots. Then the half-man fell.

Selim tried to start over to Mustang after that, but was barely able to get out of the way when a frantic blonde woman, that was right, Riza Hawkeye, came barreling up and collapsed next to Mr. Mustang. Selim stared for a moment, before quickly shaking his head and running towards the street. One to get out of there, and two to find someone to help Mr. Mustang, if he was even still alive.

Mostly to get out of there, though.

A fleet of cars pulled up out front before he even had a chance to call for help, and started storming the remains of their house. One of the men who got out of the cars started over to him directly, while the rest went into and around the old residence of the Fuhrer. Selim didn't pay him much attention though, simply watching as Mustang was carried away in one of the cars. That Hawkeye woman not allowing for anyone to take him out of her sights the entire time.

"Mr. Selim Bradley! Are you hurt?" the man asked, and finally the black haired boy turned to face him, shaking his head ever so slightly. He actually _wasn't_, which almost stunned him into silence.

He was back. He was alive. H-how had this happened?

"I-I'm okay… I'm okay…" he repeated, his voice shaking like mad, before his legs finally gave out on him from the shock of it all. More people rushed to surround him, but he didn't even look up as they asked what was wrong. Nothing was wrong. He was actually _alive. _

He didn't even notice several of the men get pushed aside, not until his mother came barreling into him, scooping the child into her arms without a word and bawling her eyes out. Selim was stunned for a moment, before quickly starting to cry as well.

He knew that he'd never be able to tell his mother that they were actually tears of happiness.

* * *

Ta-daa. It's over. Really over this time. Well, there's still the epilogue, actually, but you know. Like I said before, I can't _believe_ this is really happening. I feel like I've really grown as a writer over the course of this story.

Well, I hope you all like the epilogue as well, and as always, please review.


	42. Epilogue Second Chances for the Prideful

This was uploaded with the final chapter! If you have not yet read chapter 38, please go back and read that now! 

Okay, we're finally at the epilogue. It's been a long road, and I think that overall, despite several rough patches, I am happy with this story. Still can't believe it's over, but I'll have plenty of other fan fiction to occupy my time with, so no worries there. Well, for a final time, I hope you've enjoyed yourselves. Thank you all for reading and sticking by me these past two years. Without any further ado, enjoy~

Epilogue- Second Chances for the Prideful

Selim sat in his new room, staring out the window as the rain continued to fall. It was just starting to turn to fall, and it felt strange to relive days that had already passed in his mind.

'Father's' funeral had been a little over a week ago, and of course a great national day of morning. Selim had forced himself to cry, but only to keep his mother from worrying.

Neither he nor Mr. Mustang had told the real story about what had happened in that burned out shell of a house. It was clear that the older man still couldn't come up with a reason for why he'd acted as he had, but never tried to ask him to explain, even when he and his mother had went to go visit the man that had saved his life from the fire, as they'd said.

He knew his mother thought he was traumatized by the death of his 'father.' She had every right to, he wasn't acting anything like his old self. Much more reserved, or mature, in his own mind, not smiling or playing as much as he used to. Instead, preferring to just stay holed up in his room on nice days and read a book, or stare out the window like he was now.

Maybe he was a bit traumatized, but not for the reasons she thought. Everything that had happened in the other world… he couldn't believe it'd been real. It still didn't feel real, that he died or fought and had used those terrifying powers to protect himself.

Even still, he found himself continuously slipping up, speaking to Pride in his own mind and finding himself confused for a moment when no answer came.

Did he miss Pride? He really didn't know anymore. During the last few hours he'd been in the other world, the sin hadn't said a word to him. He never would have forgave him for turning his Father against him, no matter how little at fault he really had been in the situation. Not to mention, the whole time Pride had been wishing for his death. How could he like someone who'd done that?

Yeah, he definitely missed Pride. Maybe that was a part of it too, he was still getting over that fact. It wasn't the whole thing though, and he knew that no matter how often he tried to act like the happy, naïve, _stupid_ boy he'd been before, it'd never be enough to fully trick anyone. He didn't even want to be like that anymore, but he doubted anyone would ever really understand his reasons why.

Selim was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his mother calling him down for dinner. She'd become much more subdued as well, but it was clearly due to her husband's death. The black haired boy tried to offer her a smile as he came into the room, which she managed to return.

"How are you feeling today, dear?" She asked, and Selim took a seat at the table as he answered.

"Fine, and you mother?" he asked back. He really was telling the truth, even if he could tell she didn't believe him. Everything was fine now, although he was slightly glad that she didn't really know that. If she thought her son was _completely _unaffected by his father's death like he was, it would probably be the thing that sent her spiraling uncontrollably. He couldn't have that, not after having lost her and everything else he cared about for so long.

"That's good, I'm doing alright," she answered. The two ate in mostly silence, a far cry from the way that Selim used to rant on happily during meals. Afterwards, he quickly excused himself back to him room.

No one understood what had happened to him, and he wasn't ever planning to explain it to them. As far as he knew, the homunculus in this world had failed whatever it was their plan had been. He wanted to try to go into the secret tunnel he was sure would be behind his father's old bookcase, just to make sure, but he wasn't even able to get back to their old house.

He guessed it didn't really matter though. What had happened to the homunculus of this world was no more his problem than what happened to the ones of the other world. He somehow gotten a second chance at life, and he was smart enough to know not to go ahead and foolishly throw it away.

His newfound pride would never allow for such a thing.


End file.
